Autophobia
by Moka-girl
Summary: The new student should have known better than to follow a suspicious guy carrying her unconscious pink-haired classmate. Well, to be honest, he had looked like one of those guys that preyed on young and innocent girls, so she couldn't just ignore the situation... Eventual William/OC
1. 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. **_

_**Chapter written by: Moka-girl**_

_**Beta-reader: None**_

_**A/N:**__Story in the process of being re-written._

_Hey guys, just to say; this is a XANAfied!William/OC story. With some other relationships along the way._

_I hope you like it, and don't forget to review! I make it a point to review every story I read, and I'm sure it won't kill you to try to do the same. You probably know how happy a comment makes the author of a story, perhaps because you are also an author. So, as I'm sure you understand, I am fishing for reviews. :)_

_I want you all to tell me what ya think of Megan, okay?_

-x-x-x-

I listened in silence to my dad, gazing out the window at the scenery passing by. My eyes were always straying to the dust particles on my glasses, managing with difficulty to continue watching the people outside, going about with their daily lives. The city wasn't exactly what I had expected, I must admit. It looked just as friendly as on the pictures and had a certain charm of its own that I couldn't quite ignore.

It helped me digest that I would soon be a part of all this. Well, not exactly, since I would be living at the school, sleeping in the dorms and eating at the cafeteria. I would have to get used to it soon enough.

I felt nervous and awkward. The fact was, even though I hadn't been what you could call 'Miss popular' at my last school, I still missed it there. I hadn't been well-liked, and classmates tended to call me unflattering names. I had not been able to enter their flock, due to my non-existent skills at socializing, and it had destroyed my status in the hierarchy of popularity.

Adults tend to look back at their school days with a soft smile on their faces, wishing to be there, young and full of youthful energy, and live it all once more. What they seemed to forget was that the shy, timid sort had fear in their stomach at the idea of their teacher asking them to form groups of two when the class had 25 students, and saying that the leftover could integrate a group.

Damn perfect. Except for the part of entering a group that had already been formed.

"_We're already two, you see, and —"_

"— _really wanted it to be just us —"_

"_It has nothing to do with you, Megan, it's just —"_

Well, you get the point. At least there I had a few friends. Here? There's no guaranty it could be any better. What if it turned out worse, even, than St-Olivier's?

I was anxious. For what, I wasn't sure. Maybe I wanted to get to my new school as fast as possible? Maybe I wanted the first school day to be over and to have had made lots of friends?

Or maybe I just wanted the world to stop forcing my kind, the timid, soft-spoken ones with no self-confidence due to past mobbing, to make friends when we obviously dreaded it. The contact with people and the possibility of rejection was one of my biggest fears.

Dad had started explaining to me what he knew of the school, and its reputation. By the sound of it, it was better than my last. But there is a mountain-sized difference between reputation and truth.

As people say, 'seeing is believing'. Well, the appropriate term would be something along the line of 'experiencing is believing'.

My headphones, hanging limply around my neck, were rubbing unpleasantly against my skin. I took them off and put them down on my bag.

All black with brown, curving lines everywhere, they had looked stylish when I had spotted them in the electronics shop. Now, I was regretting buying them. They were uncomfortable around my neck, forcing me to have them on properly and covering my ears most of the time, which only increased the probabilities of people thinking me asocial.

Absentmindedly twisting a lock of curly hair around my finger, I nodded along to my dearest father, knowing better than to interrupt him. He disliked being interrupted more than people shouting. Shouting was the reason he had divorced my mum, she had begun to be too loud as the years passed.

"Daddy?" I questioned softly, careful to not speak too loud and startle him. There was a clear note of uncertainty in my voice.

He pursed his lips, and I watched as his moustache moved along with the movement. "Yes, Megan?"

I gulped. "Uhh… when are we there?"

It took him a few seconds to think. "Well, it's quite close now. I'd say, give it a few minutes and we're there." He scratched his greying hair before returning to giving me a monologue.

I really did love him, but some times he just talked too much. That was why I usually interrupted him with questions that required short answers, in hopes that he would forget what he had previously been talking about. Some times it worked, other times… well…

We parked near the Administration Entrance, in a small parking for teachers, guests and such.

I supposed the students were in class at this time, because I didn't see any. Dad got my big duffel bag out, along with my schoolbag.

He had an important meeting in this town, which was why he had had the time to bring me in the first place. But he had to go now, because it started in five minutes. So we exchanged goodbyes and left it at that. I had never been very friendly with my father since his divorce with mum, especially because I wanted to blame someone for the fact that she hadn't wanted my custody.

Dad, a distant figure of a man, always at work or on his travels, had been the perfect victim of my blame, at the time. Still now, there was bitter resentment in my heart that constantly deviated from my mother to my father.

He left without a wave from his car or even a glance.

I shook my head and walked over to the administration building. There was a lone teacher that kind of looked like a dinosaur, so old was she, reading a file near the other side of the big hall the entrance led into. I asked her for directions to the secretary's office, and was off.


	2. 2

When I pushed open the door, I found out that it weighed less than I had thought it did: it slammed violently against the wall. I blushed, ducking my head and mumbling and embarrassed "Sorry." loud enough for anyone in the room to hear.

The beautiful pale girl that had been announcing something in the microphone threw me a look that said "Who does she think she is?"

I smiled at her and tried to canalize all the kindness in the world in a new "Sorry."

It didn't work. She pushed back her long, glossy black hair behind her shoulders and her upper lip drew an arc only slightly contemptuous. I raised my eyebrows.

The secretary seemed more moved by my excuses than the girl. Smiling, she came forward.

"Oh! You must be Megan Hawkins, the new student!"

"Yes, it's me. I'm here for my inscription. Sorry, it gives you more work…"

The terrible announcer-girl took an air of superiority, I could even _see_ her nose quivering, but it doesn't stop the secretary from smiling. It reminded me of my old school, and that was not a compliment.

The woman, still smiling, went over to retrieve a file amongst a big pile of papers on her desk and opened it. The terrible announcer-girl rolled her eyes and turned away from us.

"There, Miss Hawkins. All your lessons are indicated here. I am Ms. Weber." She was the kind of strict but warm woman that liked to help out people and disliked troublemakers. Good. At least she was helpful and didn't just tell me to go away or something.

I took the form with a trembling hand. The paper started shaking. Good Lord…

"Everything will be alright. The first day is usually the hardest, but you'll settle in in no time!"

Thanks. But I'm the new girl here, not you. So keep your advice to yourself.

Ms. Weber turned to the announcer-girl. I swear I saw the woman's short, blonde, square-cut hair move around in slow motion, like in that L'Oréal Paris publicity, '_Parce que vous le valez bien_'. This means, 'Because you're worth it' or something close to that.

"Elisabeth, would you accompany Megan to her first class, please?"

The girl turned and looked at me as if I was dirt on her shoe. Considering the quality of her clothes, and how much maekup caked her face, that was probably what I was, in her eyes.

"I've got to finish announcing. You did promise me I'd be able to do it a whole school day, after all."

"Well yes, I did promise…" Ms. Weber rubbed her left temple in thought. "Ahh, yes, maybe he's still there. Ulrich!" she shouted. "Are you finished?"

A boy came in the room from the same door I had passed a few minutes ago. He was holding a stack of papers that looked like grades, and seemed very, _very_ tired.

He was the kind of super handsome boy many girls fell for. His hair was brown, just long enough to not spike up like a hedgehog too much, and he had brown eyes.

He wore a light green tee-shirt that seemed a bit faded out, with an almond-colored jacket on top. His baggy trousers were of an agreeable khaki shade with only one pocket, on the left leg. His trainers were white.

"They're all there, Ms. Weber." He seemed in quite a hurry. Hmm… wonder why.

"Good." She took the papers and put them on her desk, before asking him, "Ulrich, could you accompany Megan here to her first class? She's a new student and I believe she is in your class."

Giving an uneasy smile, he replied, "No probs, Ms Weber. But what about my punishment, shouldn't I stay to finish up what I was doing?"

The woman pushed up her glasses in thought. "Well, show me where you found these," She then added, for my benefit, "I've been looking for them for three days." Turning towards Ulrich, she continued. "And then you can show Miss Hawkins to her class." She smiled in a 'voilà, problem solved' kind of way.

"Ummm… what about my bags? I can't walk around with a bag full of clothes all day."

The secretary smiled. "It's okay. I'll have a teacher bring them to your room. Leave what you don't need here, it's no problem." She turned to Ulrich once again. "Now, where did you find them?"

"I'll show you." He said, walking out the room.

That's when, with a small smile of satisfaction, Elisabeth indicated my jean:

"Nice, the sign 'Peace'?" The sarcasm was painfully easy to spot.

I smiled in an obviously fake way at her. I tried to retort, but nothing came out of my mouth. It was one of those moments where you're supposed to snap back something cool to shut the other one up. Instead, I was left there like a retard, unable to come up with something. It happened a lot - I was never good at answering fast, and that made me an easy target most of the time.

Fortunately, after saying that she had turned her back on me, so she couldn't see my moment of gaping stupidity.

"Pfff… you're just—" Before she could finish what was obviously an insult, a voice declared, "I don't think you should finish that, Sissi."

It was Ulrich, back from wherever he had been, Ms. Weber in tow. "After all, there is an adult here that could very well hear you and decide a punishment is in order."

That was awesomely cool. I think I'm already crushing on him…

He came over and took a look at my schedule. "Mr. Roberts. It seems we're in the same class, after all. C'mon, follow me."

I placed my duffel bag near the door leading to the headmaster's office—it was indicated on the door, in case you're wondering how I knew that—and ran after him. I could hear Ms. Weber's shout of, "Your room number is indicated on the paper!" before it faded into nothing.


	3. 3

**A/N: I've been writing like crazy, and I have about _five to ten chapters_ ready to be published. I figure I wait until I have at least one _comment_ per updated chapter, before publishing the next one. So that'll be my _updating schedule_, for those interested. So thank CodeLyokoFan98, because he/she is the one responsible for this update! :)**

I thought Ulrich was out there waiting for me, but no. He was jogging over to where I assumed the class was. He was very fast, and by his way of moving it was clear he was considering his actual pace quite slow. But to me, he was difficult to catch up with, especially since I was trying to zip up my jacket and had my backpack hanging by my elbow, rendering fast movements harder.

It was probable that without my bag or the fact that I had been trying to do my zipper, I could have easily caught up with him.

Finally seeing he was going too fast for me, he slowed down.

I focused on breathing evenly. I wasn't exactly used to being around guys, except when it came to family. My hormones were acting up, erasing any faults he might have to make him look beautiful to my eyes. It tended to happen around attractive young men of my age. And, it did help that he was insanely attractive.

"You're used to running?"

"Yep."

I really was. Back home,I was used to constantly running after public transports all the time to get to school or go to my flute lessons. When I missed the tram or the bus, I often had to run after it for five minutes, until it reached the next stop, so I could get on it. Since that happened quite often, I was used to it. The running, that is.

Two weeks ago I had been late by twenty seconds and hadn't managed to catch my bus, so I had to run after it for much longer than normal. I had only caught up with it four stops later.

The worse fact was that I had my flute it its case, which was pretty heavy, my schoolbag _and _I had to run on the pavement, thus braving a huge crowd of people and trying to be as fast as possible.

But the good aspect was my love of running, which definitely helped. It had always been a passion to go on as fast as possible, searching to attain the point where it felt like flying. That was why I liked it: it made me feel strong. It was the same feeling as when I was young, on a swing, trying to go higher and higher. Unfortunately, I was a bit young for that, now, so running was my alternative.

Humanity's oldest dream was to be able to fly, and I was definitely not an exception. Flying like a bird or a butterfly was something akin of a deep desire that was inked well within my heart.

"Say, Morgan, why—"

I interrupted him rudely, "It's Megan. M-E-G-A-N. Not _Morgan_ or anything else, for that matter."

"Okay, okay, I get it." I hope he wasn't insulted. "No need to get angry over it. Anyway, what I was about to ask is: why did you change schools?"

"I… my father is always at work, I rarely ever see him and I'm sick of raising myself. I'm too lazy for that kinda life.

My schedule was waaaay too tight and I barely had the time to relax between housework, school, my flute lessons, table tennis, swimming and tennis. The thing is, that I didn't want to be home and have nothing to do, so I took up lessons of anything interesting to fill up my time.

My dad decided it was simpler to eliminate the main problem: being home alone. So he searched on internet and found that this school, close enough for him to be there in forty-five minutes, had dorms included and a very good list of classes, along with a good reputation."

Ulrich nodded along, looking like he already knew all of it. It was probably my imagination, but I didn't see any surprise or, well, any usual reaction when I answered. It was like he had known for some time. He wasn't even saying anything about how long my rant had been.

I was losing my touch at reading people, it seemed. But the fact that he was a total hottie wasn't exactly doing wonders on my concentration and deduction abilities.

"That's a… good reason, Megan. What about your family? D'you have any siblings?"

"No, I don't." I turned to properly face him. "I'm an only child. I have a half-sibling, but we barely know each other, and we tend to fight like crazy."

It seemed he had been trying small talk with me, the usual questions you asked someone new, and I hadn't responded adequately. I could tell, because his smile had dimmed. Not that I was looking at his lips, or anything.

"We're here."

With a sidelong smile (it was back on his face!), he indicated the door of the room. Inside, I could hear the students moving about, going over to sit at their places, talking about stuff I couldn't hear.

They were all dressed casually in a pack of surprisingly bright colours, if you consider what I was used to: Every girl wearing black, revealing clothes, having _Longchamp_ bags for school and all trying to be as perfect as possible. The same style, EVERYWHERE.

In that kind of environment, if you didn't make at least an effort to join the race of beauty, you were considered an outcast. I'm sure everyone knows that, or has experienced it.

So, seeing people wearing things I'm sure they actually appreciated was a bit surprising. With my 'peace' jeans, stiletto boots, close-fitting sleeve-less white top and my brown army-style jacket, I suddenly felt out of place. It was like people didn't care that much about appearance, here, and that troubled me. My style was a bit unorthodox, yes, but it was by no means comfortable. It was more about appearance than anything else, while still staing 'me'.

I had been used to live in a place filled with fake people with fake smiles and _FAKE_ concern.

I would never get accepted here, not after having lived with people that didn't care for me. I would not ever be able to get used to this. I was sure of it.

_The pain clutches at my soul, tearing apart any semblance of happiness. If I do not live, I die, yet I am reborn, as a mindless fly…_

Oh God, please help me get through this. Or at least, help me stop being such a dramatic idiot. Sometimes I just disgust myself. Maybe I should become emo, dye my hair, and write crappy poetry? Or whatever emo-people do.


	4. 4

**This has been updated thanks to the reviews of _harmony_ and _Bali Lali_.**

After class, a thin girl with a mane of orange hair gave a little sign to gain my attention. She had a Snoopy backpack with stuff scribbled on it everywhere. She frowned cutely and jumped up and down so I could see her. Awww… adorable.

It took a few seconds for me to realize that yes, she actually wanted to talk to _me_.

"Hey!"

She waved in an exaggerated fashion, as if to hail a taxi somewhere overcrowded with cars and people. But we were in the school corridors and I must say… the traffic wasn't exactly that intense. But that was just my personal opinion.

"Hi." My voice seemed awkward to me, but that was simply because as a new student, I was nervous.

"You're the new girl… uhh… what's your name?"

I gave an irritated smile that she took as a sign to continue. Couldn't she leave me alone? I had better things to do. She obviously wanted something from me, and I just wasn't in the mood for this.

"Because, Milly and Tamya were talking about interviewing you and I asked 'bout who you were and since they didn't know I thought I'd come directly to ask you, you know?"

…

'How the Hell does she manage to talk so fast?' was the only thought circulating through my brain. Also, I was wondering who were those girls she had previously mentioned.

…

—"I'm Megan, Megan Hawkins. And who are you?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you my name, didn't I? That was kind of stupid, I mean, I should've started by that and—" Boy did she talk _fast_. It was like she thought she didn't have the time to catch her breath, so she had to say it as quick as possible to avoid dying from lack of air. Or something.

Thoroughly irritated, I repeated the question with a different wording. "What is your name?"

I tried to go in positive. I mean, I was new and really hoping not to end up alone again. So taking out my fears and anxiety on her wasn't right. And who knows? We might end up friends.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Jean Camino."

_Cool surname,_ I thought.

We walked together to our next class chatting—she did most of it—and laughing. The knot in my stomach had completely loosened by then. I had a friend, but it remained unclear if she had any motives behind the nice, happy-go-lucky façade.

I think I saw Ulrich ahead, but then next second a person walked in my line of sight and I couldn't see him anymore.

"Say, why was Sissi glaring at you like that in class?"

_'Huh? Someone's a sissy?'_

"Who?" I was quite confused. My face was proof of it.

Jean looked incredulous. "Come on! For her to look at you like that, you must know!"

"I have no idea who you're talking about."

"You know, dark hair, two idiots following her, super arrogant, thinks she's all that? Elisabeth Delmas, the principal's daughter!"

Suddenly, it clicked together in my mind.

"_Elisabeth, would you accompany Megan to her first class, please?"_

_The girl turned and looked at me as if I was dirt on her shoe._

"_I've got to finish announcing. You did promise me I'd be able to do it a whole school day, after all."_

"Oh, Elisabeth, you mean. Well, I don't think I did anything to get her to hate me that much… she was just… kind of mean to me before we even properly knew each other."

"Hmm… that was disappointing. I was expecting an epic tale of a fight between two girls or something that sounds cool like that."

"Well, sorry I couldn't give you the 'epic story' you wanted. Anyway, what do we have now?"

Jean didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. Her small eyebrows drew together in confusion. "You mean, as in 'lesson', right?" I nodded. "Oh, well we have gym right now. Do you have your stuff?"

I patted my school bag, filled with my new books received today and with other much needed school affairs. "Yep, it's in here."

We entered the girls' changing room and went over to a random locker.

"You don't need to lock it, nobody ever does," Jean said.

"Thanks," I said, turning to undress.

"OH NO!" she suddenly shouted.

Surprized, I looked around for what might have caused her reaction, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe there was a small spider somewhere or something?

"What? What's happening?"

Jean turned her distressed eyes over to me and gulped down her saliva noisily. "We're running, today! They're testing us on the 1300 meters! No… it's horrible, absolutely horrible."

"The 1300 meters? Why're you whining?"

"'Why', you ask? You're _really_ crazy."

She opened her sport's bag and took out the clothes in it. I sat down on the wooden bench and took off my boots.

"Well, after all, you can maybe be accepted here…"

I put on my old black top. It was really comfortable because it had been worn so much. It used to be my dad's, who gave it to me when he came to face the fact that he never had much time for physical exercise of any sort, with all his work-related stuff.

"Would it be a problem if I managed to be accepted?" I always thought I was the only one, obsessing over being liked. The fact that she voiced my concerns surprized me.

"Let's say that it's always nice to know someone different. A girl different from this one, for example…" She pointed at Elisabeth Delmas, wearing a beautiful top with thin straps.

"I don't..."

Unable to find something to say, I opened my bag and showed her a doodle I had done in class; it represented characters from My Little Pony.

"Cool."

"I… I just don't like showing it. They'd laugh."

We started doing our shoelaces at the same time.

"I know I should be myself, but it's hard when everybody laughs." I was still expecting her to mock my love for My Little Pony.

She didn't.


	5. 5

**Thank Bali Lali for this chapter! She's the one updating and keeping me motivated. Thanks Bali! Hugs to you!**

**-x-x-x-**

**W**hile I stretched, Mr. Morales, our gym teacher, nodded when he saw me and wrote down my name. Then, as he whistled, we began running on the path for a warm-up.

I had noticed that we were accompanied by students of an upper class, who were quite fast. I was careful to run slowly so that my heart could adapt to the movement. After all, warming up wasn't meant to exhaust you. Though, I found it hard to resist running in front of them.

After that, I stretched _again_. I seemed to be the only one doing it, and I wondered idly if the others expecting to survive when they'd didn't even prep their bodies for this.

"Who do you think you are? A professional runner or something?" asked Elisabeth, very obviously mocking me. She added a bit of acting to it, to seem like she wasn't meaning any harm with the question. It was probably a precaution in case Jim Morales heard her.

I shrugged.

"Well I for one think that she looks more like a professional runner than you do, Sissi." Ulrich intervened.

An Asian girl dressed all in black backed him up. "Are you scared, Sissi? Scared that a new student could be better than you?"

Sissi — I noticed everyone referred to her as that, so I stopped thinking of her as Elisabeth — was red with anger as she shot out to the girl, "Who asked you anyway, Yumi? It's none of your business!" She sniffed haughtily. "I'm not afraid of her."

"You know, y-your tone isn't convincing." My stutter wasn't convincing, either.

She turned her ferocious and intense gaze to me.

"You're going down, _girly_."

Mr. Morales whistled sharply, his potbelly poking out as he exhaled, and we dashed forward. Most of the girls ran at a pace similar to jogging, but Sissi sprinted in an impressive show of strength and speed with me in hot pursuit.

I hated the slenderness of her perfect legs, moving without any unnecessary movements. I hated the way anything she did seemed so perfect. She was popular, and therefore people didn't stand up much to her.

Ulrich had reacted to a provocation aimed at me, and that Asian girl had backed him up, but what were the odds that every student could stand their ground, faced with Sissi as an adversary?

Not high, I was sure of it.

She chose that moment to turn her head and give me an unfriendly smile. What was her problem? I didn't do anything, but it seemed she already hated me.

"Go on, catch up with her!" Jean panted.

She didn't have much strength left. Her posture wasn't correct, her limbs making too big movements and having difficulty putting the right amount of strength in them.

"You're being an idiot! Don't wait for me! I know you're faster than Sissi!"

Thanks for the compliment.

We hadn't even done a whole lap, but her face was already crimson.

"Come on, I know you can!"

I accelerated my rhythm, managing to overtake Sissi with little effort. I was seriously tempted to stick my tongue out at her, but by fear of seeming childish, I refrained.

There is nothing better than to run fast and with effectiveness. There is nothing better than the sensation of your body stretching and moving, feeling how much power you have at your disposal, how much your body can take. You feel in control, _powerful_. Very powerful.

My trainers were attempting, vainly, to move faster. I could feel the wind whipping at me.

I took a little longer to overtake Jean again, but she wasn't making much effort to run anymore. She screamed at me that Sissi was catching up.

I ran even _faster_.

_Faster…_ Faster… _Faster…_ Faster!…_FASTER!_

I passed by the last runner of the head group. I winked at him and overtook him. He stunk of sweat, and large circles of perspiration were visible under his arms. Ewww.

He accelerated, but didn't manage to hold my rhythm more than 50 meters before giving up and slowing down to his earlier pace.

Now, Ulrich entered my line of sight. I copied his own rhythm and threw him a greeting.

"You're way fast." He said, panting slightly.

Together, we ran.

The only runner in front of us was a boy from the other class, and he was _eating_ up the laps like there was nothing easier to do. Sheesh.

The only thing I could properly distinguish about him from where I was was the black hair on his head and the fact that he was tall. If I was to give an example, I'd say as tall as the Asian girl that had defended me in front of Sissi, or as tall as my mother.

"You should avoid being mean to Sissi. She's a brat, but her father's the principal," said Ulrich. He seemed to be reminiscing about something, as if there was a memory to go along with it.

I waited a bit, trying to regulate my breath so talking wouldn't hinder me. "I don't think I understand. What…" I took a deep breath. And then I exhaled. "…do you mean?" Would Sissi have me expelled or something, if I pissed her off?

He didn't say anything.

A little annoyed, I decided to ignore him too. Fine. If that was how he wanted to do it...

I put on a last spurt of speed, even though it was too early, and left Ulrich behind. I tried to empty my brain of endless daily worries along with my fear of not being socially accepted here. I found that it was a good way of escaping reality, as well as the fact that I was stuck in this useless school.

The distance between me and the black haired boy diminished to half of what it was when I was running with Ulrich. It reduced even more as I advanced, leaving only a quarter.

In the last lap, I don't pay much attention to the other students as I passed them. Some shouted, but I didn't really pause to listen. I think they were encouraging me. Each of my strides brought me closer to the unnamed boy.

_Faster…_ Faster… _Faster!_

I threw everything I had in this sprint; I was so close to the boy I could smell him. It was a smell that was hard to distinguish, but it reminded me of metal.

He turned around and looked at me. He didn't appear worried. In fact, he seemed almost… confused. Yes, that was the word. As if he didn't know what he was doing here.

I did not understand why he looked like something that didn't belong. Facts just did not add up.

If he was one of those clueless losers, then why wasn't he why the other boys, struggling to run a bit more? I knew that, as long as you were good in sport, you had your chance. In my last school, I was only good at running when it came to gym, and there had been a girl better than me anyway.

So, even if this guy was only good at running, shouldn't he seem at least a bit more… aware? There wasn't even the tell-tale pride of his ability to run so fast. No runner's legs. As I said before, facts didn't add up in his favour.

He accelerated. There was no trace of humidity under his arms, or beads of sweat on his forehead. Nothing. Damn was I jealous.

He ended, with a meter or two separating him from me, in first place. He stopped with no problem, all smiles.

I tripped when I passed the arrival line and fell to the ground, panting.

"You're incredible, I've never seen someone as good as you." Despite it all, II said it with conviction.

And it was true. In my last school, the guys that always beat me, as well as myself, were always covered in sweat. It came as no surprise that this boy, who looked like what he had just done was nothing at all, was obviously better. If it wasn't for the restraints of his body, and the limits of the speed of his movements, he would have had the necessary endurance to go much faster.

"Uh… thank you?"

I stuck out my hand. "Could you… help…" I struggled with speaking in between breaths. "…help me up?"

He took my hand and pulled me up. Too wobbly, my legs collapsed under me and I crashed into him. He managed to stand upright and looked around for some help. The others were still running, so it wasn't much use.

His arm was cold, of normal temperature. It was like he hadn't run at all.

Good Lord…

"I'm Megan Hawkins. I'm new here, at Kadic. Who are you?" I had to know his name. I had to know what this fantastic runner was named even if it killed me.

He answered immediately, as if he had learnt the response by heart. "I'm William Dunbar."


	6. 6

**I've recently gone all fan girl on a manga (I'll sooooo be writing a fanfiction on it! After I've advanced in my other stories), and I just have to name it, because the thought of you guys never knowing of its existence would wound me deeply. MAOU JUVENILE REMIX. The novels are by: Kotaro Isaka. The adaption in form of manga is by: Megumi Osuga**

**A definite MUST-READ!**

**This chapter is brought to you by an anonymous guest. Sorry, I don't have a name to give! Had he logged in, I would've! So he's the one that updated, and since I give an update every time I receive reviews, this chapter is in his name. Or hers, come to think of it. I just assumed it was a guy, but I really don't know.**

-x-x-x-

_I was sitting on my bed, reading a book. I could hear the faint sounds of my mother, who was cooking dinner, and my radio._

_"_All the things she said, all the things she said, running through my head, running—_"_

_I picked up my mobile phone from the ground, and pressed the small green button without even checking who was calling._

_"Hello?" My voice sounded a little too weak for me. Being a Soprano in a choir group had its disadvantages sometimes._

_"Ah! Megan, I was afraid you wouldn't pick up! It was a little late after all..."_

_My gaze brightened. "Hi Lorie! It's nice to hear from you, even though we talked this afternoon." I laughed. "Is it about tomorrow? Because I'm still waiting to know when you can come over! Would you rather come in the afternoon, or in the morning?"_

_The hesitation at the other end of the line was enough for my smile to turn false, and my eyes to narrow._

_"Well... you see, actually I found out that I had something planned tomorrow, and—"_

_I sighed. "You cannot uphold your promise because of that. Do you really think you're the first one that used the excuse? I know that song by heart, and also the fact that if you were really sorry, you'd cancel what you have planned tomorrow to spend time with me, like you promised."_

_A tear dropped. I brought the phone to my face and whispered, "I hate you."_

_That was the last conversation I had with the only girl I viewed as a friend in my class._

O0O0

Jean was amazed at my running abilities, and spent the rest of the day by my side, as if I were a priceless artefact she wanted to keep close. She only had an assigned seat in math, so we were next to each other in French class.

She updated me on what we were working on presently, and without us really realizing it, we had formed a tight bond that seemed impervious to many attacks.

People generally don't try too hard to befriend new students—they just leave 'em alone to fend for themselves amongst unknown faces. So it was easy for me to guess that Jean probably did not have any real friends, 'cause if she did, she would be spending time with them, not sucking up to me.

Okay, that was a little harsh, I'll admit. I was seventy per cent sure that she had friends outside her (and my) class, but I was just so cynical and sceptic 'bout these things that… well… I got into thinking about the worst possible situation on an everyday basis. It wasn't her fault that I was second-guessing the apparent reason behind her friendship.

I kept the conversation light and going, making sure not to have it turning onto any subject that wasn't correct for simple acquaintances to talk about. I really wanted to discuss other things than the weather and classes, but unspoken rules about social life dictated otherwise. And besides, I didn't know her enough to spill anything important.

Had she been willing to expand the discussion, I would have gladly followed her, but despite her 'happy-go-lucky' attitude, I could sense she was a little… wary of me, in a way.

It was when the lunch break came that things started getting interesting. The school bell rung at half past eleven, signalling the end of classes.

Two rows in front of where Jean and I were seated, there was Ulrich, who had stood up and started walking towards the door leading out of the classroom. He was closely followed by his punky blonde friend, a boy who had been half asleep during most of the teacher's lecture.

"You got a thing for Ulrich Stern, missy-miss?" Jean, who had noticed my staring, asked.

"Perhaps," I responded, a small smile curling at the edges of my mouth.

"He's taken, you know." She didn't even sound sorry. It was like she was waiting for me to say something that would turn the rumour mill of Kadic over.

Jean zipped her bag shut and hoisted it up over her shoulder.

She then turned to face me, with a face that told me she was attempting to look sorry, but I could see the mocking amusement behind it. Ah-ha, so this school was not filled only with pleasant people that ignored everything of unspoken social wars.

"He and Yumi are seriously crushing on each other, and the whole school is more or less aware of it. They seem to be the only ones that don't understand their feelings—I mean, who can't see they're made for each other? And even if Yumi was thrown out of the picture, I'll have you know that Sissi has her sights set on pretty-boy too. So you really don't have many chances at—"

Yes, I'd developed a tiny crush on the guy after he helped me out, but that did not mean Jean was allowed to annihilate the spark of hope I had been entertaining barely thirty seconds ago.

So, as an excellent way of revenge (and to stop her from noticing my suddenly transparent emotions), I cut her off in the middle of her extensive speech. "Who is Yumi?"

It took a few seconds for her to remember I was new and thus knew no one. At all.

Talk about an understanding.

The light finally came to her eyes. "Ohh… right. She's a third year, with short black hair, super tall, dresses always in black, and she's Chinese or something. Really good at sports, that girl is, and not really social with people that ain't her friends. Ring any bells, Megs?"

I ignored her shout of "Oh, that rhymes!". 'Rings' and 'Megs' was a pathetic rhyme. I focused wholly on the description she had given me. Vaguely, I remembered a girl Ulrich had spoken to that might fit the bill.

"I think I saw her in our gym class… but it must've been a mistake. I mean, third years don't have lessons with us fourth years, right?"

We made our way out of the room and across the hall, chatting animatedly (well, mostly Jean) as we did so.

"Well that was an exception. Madam Hertz had a meeting and couldn't teach, so Mister Morales took over for her and brought the class of third years over to join us for sports. It happens pretty often. And you know, it's the first time someone came that close to beating William at running. You were great, by the way, and—"

"Is he the one that came first?" My emotionless answer came out quietly enough, but still managed to cut her off.

She didn't know it, but when I got angry, I always appeared eerily calm and detached. Inside, my emotions would be churning with anger that wanted to be released. If I got even angrier, which had last happened when I was a kid, my face would twist into such a haggish grimace that anyone would be extremely affected by.

I think that, somewhere in my heart, I hated him for besting me that easily in my area of expertise, and most of all, for not gloating about it. That last fact was a true guilt-tripper for me. If he had rubbed my defeat in my face, I would have had no problems hating him… But since he hadn't done so, I couldn't think of him as negatively as I would like.

I sighed.

Then again, there was an utterly fascinating edge to him. I analysed every detail of everything I saw, non-stop, and classified them in the drawers of my mind where they belonged. He hadn't gotten classed. For now, the dark-haired boy remained, simply, a paradox.

"Yeah." I think she understood just how rattled I was because she proposed: "Hey, I had planned on eating over at the cafeteria along with everybody else, but… how about we eat some stuff I stashed in my room, instead?"

Then you won't have to face the one who beat you, loser. You're such a coward.

It lay unspoken between us. Tangible.

Her nose twitched for half a second, but I was well versed enough in micro expressions to recognize it for what it was; contempt.

Jean obviously saw my fear as pathetic, but her overall nice personality halted her from voicing thoughts she had unconsciously been thinking.

She was waiting for an answer, and that's when I understood.

She was one of those people that craved giving and receiving affection, always needing more, forcing themselves to mould their personality into the most likable one there was. To the point where they hid every negative thought in an invisible padlocked drawer.

Her lock was starting to crack, and I could see small wrinkles developing in places that told great stress. One day, that drawer would slam open

She was like a dog, wanting affection even from people she didn't know.

"That... would be nice..."

I was unsure. My analyses were always correct before I came here, but I was starting to doubt my ability to read people, here in Kadic. Jean was nice, helpful and friendly... Perhaps...

Perhaps I was wrong. I had met so many conflicting characters in this school, and maybe I should simply stop relying on my analyses and trust the instinct that I had buried a long time ago; the one that always believed in the best of people.

Jean Camino was as nice as they come, and I would not push her away.

"...really nice. Thank you very much, Jean."

And for the first time, she rewarded me with a real, heart-warming smile that, if it could speak, would say:

"You won't regret it, I promise."

It didn't matter if Jean, as I theorized, was a loner at Kadic that didn't have enough self-esteem to talk with schoolmates other than new students; she could possibly be the best friend I ever had had.


	7. 7

**I thank a very special anonymous reviewer, who calls herself Alison. Thank you, your review made my day! As for your question, I will clarify. I said the paring was XANAfied!William/oc, and that means that there will be romance, WHILE William is under XANA's influence. So it will be a relationship with the evil aspect of him, not the fun, normal, good one. That's the challenge I set up for myself, write such a romance.**

**Also, this chapter is dedicated to Alison. I update for the reviews I get, and so this update is in her honour. Cheers for Alison, who left me the sweetest of messages, and made me gush like a girl to my friends about it, proud as a peacock.**

-x-x-x-

_To me, my legs felt a little... dead. And my brain was bored to the point that it had become mush. I didn't like going to class. I was wholly interested in learning, but the teachers were so... annoyingly pathetic._

_The younger ones usually couldn't get the class to obey, and the slightly older ones that managed to usually have an approach of things I deemed too casual._

_Take _Madame _Bieri for example, who was just a little under thirty. She had a good reign on us, but spent too much time blabbering about her recent divorce and the new dog she had. It was hairless around the stomach area and looked like a rat. The dog, I mean. It was called 'Auror', but everyone called it 'Horror'._

_She was more of a friend than a teacher, and we liked her only because of that. ...And the fact that she bribed us with sweets for us to work harder._

_The teachers that were older than her were either too severe, or simply had an old-style way of teaching that made anybody from recent times snore._

_The really old fossils were worse, but I tolerated them simply because I respected my elders, and 'cause I was fascinated by the knowledge they had. I mean, if you live so long, you have to know tons of interesting stuff, right?_

_It wasn't fair!... Adults were paid for working, and children worked at school without receiving anything but the promise of a good job! And it demoralized me, knowing that my mama wouldn't care what marks I brought home._

"_...so I would like for you all to form pairs of two and complete page thirty to page thirty-three."_

_Shit._

_That summed up my thoughts correctly in my mind._

_Not only was my class of twenty-five students, but we were thirteen girls! Unlucky number indeed. I was going to end up alone, and _Madame_ Bieri __would then force me to go ask a group to be with them. When I would finally have asked every student, always receiving a negative answer and a flimsy excuse, she would have to intervene and put me with whoever she saw fit, most likely someone I hated._

_Oh good Lord, why do you ignore my pleas?_

O0O0

You could totally tell it was a girl's room. There were pink walls, posters of cute animals and even cuter boys, a _massive_ Hello Kitty wardrobe, a duvet with flowery patterns, tons of magazines... it was quite the sight for someone that wasn't a follower of the Girl's Religion. I occasionnaly read my bible on how to be a girl, however not enough to live in so much pink.

But I merely smiled and sat down on one of the two bean bag chairs that were at my disposition.

"...and then, one day, he just... started acting weird. He seemed totally moronic and retarded then, and still does, now. But in a funny way, so nobody really minds. There have been a few rumours, like a really brutal rejection from Yumi caused him to go all nutty... Well, it could be an explanation that makes enough sense—" she prattled on, crouching near the floor and pulling up two loose wooden planks.

From where I sat, I could make out a big compartment with cans of fizzy drinks and bags of crisps, chocolate and sweets in it. She had a hidden compartment Under the floor, and just needed to take off two planks of wood to access it. Cool.

I had assumed there would be cement underneath the wood, but hadn't thought there might be some space in between the two. It looked like two people could fit under there, maybe even more, if a considerable effort was made.

"Catch!" She threw a bag of M'n'Ms at me, and despite the fact that I raised my hands in synchronization (for once); I didn't get it in time with my mediocre reflexes. It bounced off my chest and landed on my lap.

Hmpf. Figures.

"Say, Jean, why doesn't he... why isn't he happy... I mean," I corrected myself, attempting to get it out correctly.

I had never been good with words. I was a person that expressed herself via body language, and even then it was hard to read me. When I was approximately nine years old, my mother's incessant whining about looking old got to me, and I started fearing wrinkles as well. Inspired by those Botox injections my mother got herself, I decided to stop, within the best of my abilities, to use the muscles of my face. Since I wasn't going to botox myself at the tender age of nine, and all.

To this day, I have abstained from showing so many emotions that the muscles of my forehead and mouth were pretty much dead from never being used, and it took tremendous effort to even raise my eyebrows or give a wide smile (which looked totally freaky on my face, by the way). But I didn't regret it, because it meant delaying the wrinkles.

Now if only I could get rid of the annoying body fat slowly starting to form my stomach then everything would be perfect. They always assured me that it was healthy, small doses of _disgusting cholesterol hanging __**clinging to me clinging to me! **__off my body_. Granted it was close to invisible, but I wanted to attain a certain level of perfection that did _not_ require body fat. At all.

I didn't like it, when I tried to put on some jeans, and was unable to. Or when I couldn't put on boots, my calves being too thick.

_**I'm fat! I'm fat! I'm fat! Fat! FAT! They said so... they said so... they said so. theysaidsotheysaidsothey—**_

Okaaaaaaaay... let us get back to my poor attempt at dialoguing with my peers, shall we? No use going crazy on you. Yet.

I let a miniscule smile light my face. Coming from me, that was much.

"When he won the race, the expression on his face..."

"What?" Her expression was curious, and I could tell she wasn't getting it.

It seemed to be enough to make me doubt myself.

What... what if it had been my imagination, his cold body temperature after all that running, and his perpetually confused expression?

Yes, it made much more sense to put it all on the account of my fragile state of mind lately, and how I was starting to obsess over a number of things. I would not be surprised if Jean said that it was all a part of the boy acting 'weird'.

The body temperature I had imagined, and his expression was probably because he was stupid, or a little retarded. (No offense to people that are retarded, of course.)

"No, it's nothing."

My decision was made. Until I was sure what I claimed was true and I knew why, I would not share my concerned puzzlement with her.

I think that this decision was the one that sealed my fate. Had I talked to my friend, uh, I mean, _acquaintance, _she would have helped me brush my questions away, and I would've looked no further into the matter that was William.

However, I was curious, and that did not necessarily mean my curiosity would be followed with a salve of good consequences.

-x-x-x-

**Oh, and since there are more chapters than before the re-write, I'm encountering a problem. I want to keep giving the chapters names of phobias related to the chapters, but I seem to be lacking imagination for new titles. D'you guys think you could leave a message, citing a phobia or two, and telling me for which chapter you think it should go? You'd essentially be helping with chapter titles. Thanks!**


	8. 8

**You can thank the marvellous _Alison_, as well as an unnamed _guest_, for this chapter. They were the ones who commented, and thanks to them: update!**

**Alison, I am very sorry, but I can't answer your questions without giving out the whole plot, as well as the ending. I know the story will be around 20 to 30 chapters, so you'll have to discover the answers to your questions yourself. If I answered you, that would be a big spoiler, and I want you to read this story without knowing and expecting what comes next. I'm dreadfully sorry about it. I'll answer any questions that have nothing to do with the plot of the story, if you have any, but I don't want to give the whole plot like that.**

-x-x-x-

My third school day had passed, and I was starting to get the hang of things. I could recognize some people (though I never knew their names), didn't get lost and managed to understand how the school worked. I think.

Jean and I were getting very close, and I had begun letting my guard down around her, appreciating her for the kind girl she was. In fact, we were going to spend the evening in her room, since we didn't have any important tests anytime soon.

After supper spent with her and a girl called Ann, we took a detour by the gym and entered the other door to the building which held our dorms. Two landings later found us in Jean's room, giggling at the most interesting thing that had happened today: Hertz loosing her balance and looking like a fool in front of her students.

We locked her bedroom door and opened her secret stash of sweets and chocolate. I got myself another 500 g packet of M&M's while Jean retrieved two lollipops and put them both in her mouth. At the same time. Uh. I guess to everyone their own, right?

I seated myself in the same spot as last time I had been here, eagerly opening the yellow bag.

"Where do all these _bonbons _come from, anyway?" I asked, honestly curious.

Jean, who was standing on her desk to have access to the window, momentarily stopped her efforts in opening it for some fresh air to turn to me. Her sparkling eyes, normally perpetually innocent, became mischievous.

"Well, you could say that some people owed me..." Her mouth held the beginnings of a smirk.

I didn't press for more. I was too surprised, thinking I knew her, and that info had completely thrown me off.

Jean returned her attention to the window, and began pulling at it again, fruitlessly trying to open it.

Opening my schoolbag, I fished out my phone. My dad had sent a message, anxious at how things were going. I sent a quick text back to him, telling him how things where, here at Kadic.

A faint smile illuminated my face. _What a worrywart._

"Hey Meg! Come over!" Jean invited me to join her on the window ledge. She was sitting on it quite calmly, unafraid of the fact that there were chances she might fall out. Her feet were dangling above her writing table, and her short skirt gave me quite the view of what was underneath.

I threw my jacket at her, for a second fearing she wouldn't catch it and it would fall out the window.

"Cover yourself up, sexy, I can see everything!"

She blushed to the roots of her hair and I laughed. Such a carefree sound.

It surprised me how visible her blush was, despite her skin being the sun-kissed kind that wouldn't let one show easily. When I became red, it wasn't visible, except if I decided to suddenly hold my breath for a long period of time.

I rose fluidly, and went over to her, climbing up awkwardly with my M&M's bag in hand.

It was more difficult than you'd think. I had to get up there when it was high up, and was grunting like an idiot as I did so. When my feet finally stopped acting as mad flippers and I managed to join her, we positioned ourselves comfortably with our legs hanging outside, and simply watched some of the last students dart by on the grounds, underneath us.

"Look at that star: it's really bright," I said, pointing upwards, to the left. However, I immediately retreated my hand due to the cold breeze that decided to pass through, and shivered.

Jean's eyes were alight with excitement, and she nodded, commenting on how beautiful the sky was.

"You know, if all the electricity was shut off and there were no more city lights, then we'd see much more of 'em. They look really pretty. When I was small, I thought that if I grew to be big enough, I could catch them someday."

She gave a nod at my statement, before hesitantly voicing a thought of hers.

"D'you believe in aliens? ...You know, UFOs and all that stuff."

Frankly, her question caught me off guard, and I didn't know what to say, fearful that I'd answer wrong and hurt her feelings or opinions or something... Seeing as I couldn't sit here all day thinking up an answer, I decided to be truthful.

"Even if nothing was proved, we can't be the only planet with living beings. I believe that in places... so far _away _that reaching them would be impossible, that there might be other life forms."

She waggled her eyebrows at me, face showing her playful mood. "'Life forms'? What are you, a dictionary?"

I frowned, taking my hands off the ledge to keep them close to me. "You don't need to be mean about it." It was easy to tell that I wasn't very happy, now.

She looked confused, before the light of understanding dawned in her eyes. Giving me a harsh (but friendly?) tap on the back, she exclaimed:

"No, you got it all wrong. I was only ki—"

Unfortunately for me, I hadn't been holding on to anything, so her 'harsh but friendly tap' made me lose the little balance I had, and my body lurched forward. Born from the instinct gained in amusement parks, I managed to take a deep breath before screaming, as I plummeted two stories down, to my most certain death.

"**GYAAAAAAAA**!"

Have you ever heard of the 'watching a rewind of your life as you live your last moments' cliché that always happens in movies or books?

It didn't happen to me.

The only thought passing through my mind was 'oh, fuck'. _Yes_, I know, I should watch my language. There may have been an 'I'm screwed' along the way, but as you can tell, I was a little busy desperately trying to stay ALIVE. Having the air slap my whole body, leaving my clothes whipping in the wind, as well as knowing I would die, filled me with insane dread, in the few seconds it took me to fall.

Imagine my surprise when I didn't meet my impending demise, but felt the strong embrace of someone catching me mid-air, without even grunting at the effort. I had done enough physics to know that if a heavy object was going down at an impressive speed, its weight would multiply. And I wasn't exactly as light as a feather.

"Are you okay?" a voice I couldn't quite identify asked me.

I blinked my eyes a few times, making sure I wasn't, in fact, dead.

Nope, still alive and kicking.

I would've started patting and prodding at my body for further reassurance, had it not been for me seeing who had played the knight in shining armour. The boy that had beat me at running, on my first school day. William.

He wasn't wearing the mentioned armour, but my heart did back flips when I looked at him. He had saved my life, had saved ME.

"Y-y-yes," I stuttered, the events catching up with me, making me realize what could have happened had he not been there.

Jean was shouting from her window, obviously worried. "_MEG_! Are you okay? Oh God, I thought you were gonna die!... Wait right there, I'm gonna come down!" With those last words of the long rant of hers I'll avoid giving out (too long for any of you to bother), she disappeared back in her room.

William was still carrying me in his arms, and I couldn't have been happier that no one was out at this time, and that the darkness hid the blush covering my cheeks.

I wiggled myself out of his grasp, knowing that remaining unmoving wouldn't be polite, yet hoping he would keep me from escaping his comfy arms. No such luck.

I've always viewed love as something akin to... knowing each other as well as two siblings do, yet staying together despite the others faults. What I felt now was most likely hero-worship, but... that didn't stop my heart from beating at an irregular pace, and my emotions to fill with icky mushiness.

It could be from the fall, but I wasn't stupid enough to chalk it off as something else. I was also not stupid enough to forget that William had done something that defied many physical laws.

Had I fallen on my legs, they would have broken beyond repair. Why didn't he at least show some form of pain?...

"Dude, a-are you okay? Catching me from that high, wasn't I heavy?" A pretty big hint there. Act human and answer, damn it! Show that you ain't some freaky superhero or something...

He blinked, and I couldn't help but find his expression cute beyond the irritating yet amusing cluelessness he showed. "No. Were you supposed to be heavy?"

I remembered the discussion I had had with Jean about him and how he had changed from cool to what he was now 'cause of a rejection, but it also reminded me of what I had been talking about on the window ledge with Jean.

"_D'you believe in aliens?_"

I think I may have thought something wrong after that thought, yet it was right enough to explain William's weirdness. But I wouldn't go as far as to call him or think of him as an _alien_.

Or would I?


	9. 9

**Thanks Alison! You're the reason for this chapter! Your review was given so fast, I had to wait two days before publishing this, so people could have the time to read that last chapter. I really love reading your comments - they make me all happy inside. Thank you very much for sticking with me!**

**As you all know, dear readers that have given me over 5'000 hits before I rewrote this - as soon as there are reviews, I update. Usually, it's within the next two days, except if I have something terrible going on, like no internet...**

***Sigh***

**That would suck.**

**But anyway, this time Alison reviewed, so I updated for her, and as always, I take the time to mention her, and just how much I appreciate someone taking the time to comment my work. Thanks Alison!**

**Ugh, nearly 2k words for this chap, when I promised myself it would always be between 1k and 2k, never more.**

-x-x-x-

Nobody had the slightest clue that I had nearly died, I found out the next morning. Jean, however exciting it had been, was so relieved I was alive that she didn't find the need to feed the gossip mill. William... well, being himself, he wouldn't say anything unless he'd have been asked. I knew that meant he would never say anything, because I don't think he'd get questions like "_Did Megan nearly die yesterday?_" pelted at him.

So, I was safe from everyone talking about me. But... I wasn't sure I would have minded such a thing, actually. I've always wanted people to talk about me - in a positive way, if possible.

Everyone wants attention, but they always deny it. Not me.

Immediately after the 'falling-to-my-death episode', I took a shower and scrubbed myself 'til it hurt, terrified at the idea that I might have smelled bad when _he _caught me. Romantic or heroic moments usually don't get ruined with strong bodily odours.

I had never really took an active interest in washing, only doing it when I saw my hair was getting greasy, and usually ignoring the deodorant. But that didn't mean I went as far as to forego basic hygiene, so no need to worry about that aspect worry. However, the incident made me worry about what William may think about me, and another fear was born in me.

All this stress, all these fears...

What's next?

Anyway, there wasn't anything major to be told about my fourth school day, except that I asked Jean if she could get me some info on William. I hadn't even needed to give her a reason; she just thought I wanted to know about my hero, when in fact, I wanted to disprove some nasty suspicions I had about him, as well as an ever-growing curiosity that went by unquenched.

She researched for me without complaint.

Melanie, a friend of Jean's, noticed what was happening and was enthusiastic in helping. We easily got our hands on his schedule, and even went as far as to spy on him from time to time, taking turns at it so he wouldn't realize anything.

The excitement of doing something so daring as spying made us form a tight knit group, and soon days blended to weeks, and the window incident began to fade as we lost interest, preferring to use our time to do various outings and spend time together. My unnamed feelings at the thought of him, my want to discover the paradox he was, didn't really disappear. It just locked itself in a padded room of my mind, waiting to burst out in a spectacular escape when the time was right.

I learnt about Kadic, its students and quirks, and it didn't take long before I became an official member of the school. Being the one everyone looked at in confusion, interrogation points over their heads, wasn't that fun, so it was with relief that I was finally accepted as a part of the school.

It was my third week of school now, and as I lay on my bed, trying to find sleep, I couldn't help but smile. Everyone was so nice and welcoming compared to St-Olivier, and it made me unbelievably happy.

One of the things that surprised me when I learnt it, was that everyone had their own dress code, in the sense that their everyday clothes had to resemble each other very closely, so that you couldn't difference them easily. Seeing as wearing the same thing (or close) everyday wasn't my thing, I didn't bother doing anything to my wardrobe.

They had some pretty weird habits, here. Well, don't judge a book by its cover, and all that.

I turned to the left, unhappy at my sleeping troubles. I couldn't go to sleep easily, and despite being a heavy sleeper, when I was lying in bed trying to drift off, it could sometimes take me hours to do so, because the slightest sound or uncomfortable movement would restrain me from sleeping.

It was annoying, but I couldn't do much about it.

That was my last thought before I finally fell asleep.

O0O0

_In my dream, stood Geoffrey. Geoffrey was a boy that used to be in my class two years ago, and I had always found him very... boyfriend-material, if you know what I mean. Despite being shorter than me (I don't go for short guys, ever), he was incredibly funny and was the sexiest dancer I had ever met._

_He was standing in a white expanse of space with no walls, ceiling or floor. He was looking very miserable and sad, and said to no-one in particular:_

"_Snif... It's terrible... I... I don't have any self-confidence whatsoever."_

_And then, in a bright flash of light, I appeared like a holy apparition from the Bible, stating: "I have come to help you gain self-confidence. I have come to help you gain self-confidence. Tell me what troubles you."_

"_Well... I-I have to w-work as an apprentice in a circus, and I have to learn how to juggle..." he started, "but I can't do iiiiiiiiiit!" It came out as a half strangled wail._

_I looked him in the eye, not at all surprised by the unusual exclamation (but hey, it _was _a dream after all), and answered. "I have come to help you gain self confidence. You... are the sexiest dancer I have ever seen. I swear, when I used to watch you dance, you were so incredible that I just know you're skilled enough to do something as simple as juggling, even with a thousand flaming sticks and bowling balls."_

_He blinked, before the light dawned in his eyes. "Ohhh, so that's why you used to stare at me all the time..."_

I woke up thoroughly traumatized at my dream's weirdness.

O0O0

"Really? I always forget my dreams when I wake up, or I don't dream at all, it could be both. I used to when I was little but—"

Melanie decided it was the best moment to interrupt, and add her two cents. "How come you never told us about him?"

Jean, who had been angry at the interruption, forgot her annoyance in favour of curiosity.

"Yeah! Yeah! Is he cute?"

I pursed my lips. It was mid-afternoon, and our class was cancelled because our teacher was sick, and had begun vomiting in the middle of class. Her husband, a teacher also, had been called and took her home. My classmates had all decided to go to the cinema as one big group, but Jean, Mel and I hadn't joined in, preferring to spend time together, as friends.

We were currently strolling about in the park, Melanie a few meters in front, peering at her mobile phone, while I walked side by side with Jean.

"Well, it was just a stupid crush, nothing even happened. He didn't know anything about me, except my name and the fact that I shared his class." When I saw Jean still looking at me, I sighed. "And yes, he is cute. Super duper cute, like you wouldn't imagine."

Jean took it as a sign to squeal in excitement without emitting a sound (something she loves doing. It consist mainly of her looking a mix between happy and constipated), while Melanie changed the subject of the conversation.

"I used to have this guy turning around me. You know, Odd Della Robia, Ulrich Stein's friend? Total retard if you ask me, I can't believe I was fooled by his attitude..."

My gaze settled on her when she didn't continue. She was staring to her left, at the strangest of sights.

Further away was William, his usual expression replaced by placidity with an inkling of determination I couldn't quite place, and carrying over his shoulder an unconscious pink-haired girl I recognized from school. Aelita, I think she was called.

Melanie came over to us, and opened her mouth to speak:

"What's he—"

"Shhh!"

I clamped my hand over her mouth and brought bother her and Jean down to hide behind some bushes, hoping William hadn't heard. It didn't take a genius to guess we had just assisted a kidnapping. Yes, he might have been carrying her 'cause she had fallen unconscious or something, but then he should have been heading towards school, to the infirmary, not the opposite way. It was a kidnapping, no mistake there.

Was William some sick boy, who wanted to take Aelita away somewhere to do… unspeakable things to her?

My respect for him went down, and up. I was disappointed that he'd do something like that for no discernable reason, but it was kinda cool to see something like that in real life and not on

TV. I know, that sounds sick to think of a kidnapping as cool.

After waiting a few seconds, I cautiously poked my head up and peered out. He was walking away, and hadn't even stopped to glance in our direction. I looked at Melanie, seeing that she had understood.

"I don't know why or for what, but William just... just... _kidnapped_ Aelita! We have to do something!" I quietly hissed, my expression set in frustration. The William I knew didn't act like that! His clueless attitude… had it all been a ploy from the very beginning?

"We should follow him!" proposed Jean.

It was a brilliant idea, and I couldn't have thought of anything else until Melanie broke our little plan.

"Girls! We don't know what we're dealing with! We should warn an adult first!"

_What a teacher's pet..._ I inwardly grumbled, not really meaning it. I was mostly just a little angry that she made more sense that Jean on that point.

"Well, why don't you go warn someone, and I go with Jean to find out where William's heading! Then we can phone you and tell you, so reinforcements can be sent in." The excitement of the situation was getting at me, it seemed, and Melanie thought so too, judging by her next tirade.

"Idiot! We're not in a film!" she scolded me, furious at the tiny smile that had flitted across my face.

"Huh, girls, sorry to interrupt but..."

"_**W**_**h**_**a**_**t**_**?**_**!"** Melanie and I cried at the same time at poor Jean.

"William's getting away," she squeaked.

And indeed he was. Grumbling, we parted ways, and Jean and I went after him.


	10. 10

**Thanks to Aelitalyoko99, who was the one who reviewed! This update if for him/her! I would have updated earlier, but I've been majorly stressing over a shool assignment (a really big one I've been working on for a year, now) that I have to finish by the end of next week. I really don't like it, that work as been making my life hell. :C**

**But I still managed to edit this, so here it is!**

-x-x-x-

"Ewwww..."

That was Jean's reaction at the pestilent odour that attacked our noses.

We had followed William through the park, until he had stopped in front of something round and metallic I had recognized as the entrance to the sewers. He had taken the lid off and gone down with the unconscious Aelita, without forgetting to close it after him. When we finally did get courageous enough to follow him, we nearly got lost because he had gained enough advance to nearly get rid of us. By luck, the direction we chose was the good one, and we continued tailing him vigilantly, trying to mask the sound of our steps.

"It's sooo disgusting!" whispered my accomplice. Gee, sounded like a bad detective novel.

William turned as the path curved, and we peeked out to see that the dark tunnel – with a river of filthy water in the middle and two paths on either side – stopped a few meters after, blocked by thick metal bars. It also had a ladder fixed to the wall, which he began to climb. Apparently, it led outside, judging by the metal plate he pushed out of the way to get out, with the poor girl on his shoulder.

And he didn't show any visible strain at it!

Jean and I shared a look of surprise at his impressive physical prowess. Then, we ran to the ladder, eager to get away from the smell we were subjected to. We had a silent staring match as to who would get to climb up first, but Jean cheated by taking hold of the ladder while I was preoccupied with not blinking.

When she arrived at the top, she pushed the lid of the opening out of the sewers carefully, took a look around, and waited. I guessed William was still in full view of us and she didn't want to risk being seen getting out, but I hoped she'd hurry up, so I could get away from the smell.

It was barely a minute or two before she looked down at me with a grin and started getting out. Having stayed at the bottom, a little paranoid of something happening, I finally climbed up briskly and out onto the cement bridge outside.

I had emerged near the edge of town, by the big river. There was an old factory on its very own island very close to us, connected to the main land by the bridge we were on. Surprisingly, there was absolutely no traffic here, and the place seemed nearly abandoned. Even the town streets had close to nobody there.

The whole thing made me feel vaguely unsettled.

"Where now?" I asked.

Jean pointed at the looming run-down factory that still held enough grandeur to impress and hide its age.

This place was too open for us. We needed to take cover immediately, or we'd be discovered. She had come to the same conclusion, and we both darted towards the building.

We got to the entrance just as William entered an unsteady-looking lift (probably used by the factory employees?). I was a little unhappy; we wouldn't be able to follow him anymore, without being seen as soon as we exited the elevator.

But Jean had other ideas.

She began exploring the further parts of the open and bare space we were in and inevitably found a hidden door not I nor any other person never would have seen. It revealed a room that must have served to produce something electrical in mass quantity for the market, judging by the big robotic pincers and other things.

We had entered a hidden door at the other end of the factory's grey walls, and we inevitably found another set of ladders when we followed a long corridor and entered a room that led to another, and another, and another, probably as security in case the lift broke down. At least they would still have the ladders.

My feet were starting to hurt, and this place was bloody _cold._

Going down the first levels wielded nothing interesting, but when we got to one holding some sort of futuristic sci-fi tube-like sarcophaguses of yellowish metal with cables running across the room, many connecting with the strange coffins, we knew this was getting cool. Going down one level more was even better, or simply horrible, depending on the point of view.

After all, it was another turning point of my life I could've easily avoided.

It was some form of a laboratory, with some sort of metallic podium in the shape of a ring in the centre of the room, a glowing orb floating above with four oval shapes branching out of it. It was turning in a steady motion, and was connected to an impressive computer, bigger that any other I had ever seen.

It had several screens and was connected to the metal podium, most likely able to rotate around it, as well as the chair attached to it. The whole room glowed, and I saw William seated at the computer.

He typed a sequence of keys I carefully memorized, and then slid out of the chair and went over to Aelita, lying on the cold floor. Picking her up, he went to the elevator and the last I saw of him was a boy that had lost the expression I knew him by, carrying a girl he should be helping instead of taking away.

My eyes flew to the central glowing screen. I saw some sort of count down on it. The whole kidnapping thing had made this all a little action-movie like to me, and I immediately went to the conclusion that it was a bomb.

"Damn it, move!" I whisper-yelled at Jean, who was above me, unmoving. "That thing's gonna blow up any minute!"

That got to her. I watched in satisfaction as she scrambled to get up, stopping only once her head peaked out in the room with the coffins. She turned her head down to me and told me, as silently as she could manage:

"I think you should see this, Meg."

I climbed up and she pushed herself to the side so I could get up to her level and take a discreet look at the room.

William had just finished gently placing Aelita in one of the coffins (almost in a way that would make it seem like he cared!), before entering the one to the left. A few seconds passed before the doors of the two coffins slid closed.

They stayed like that for a short period of time, but nevertheless scaring Jean to death, who kept mumbling sentences about burials and people that were still alive. I guess I wasn't the only one to consider them a little too resembling to coffins. The door opened, and no one was in them anymore.

My friend let out a small shriek, just as I gasped in realization. I used my closest appendage to shake her out of her horrified state, and when I had her full attention, exposed what I had found out:

"Jean, it's obvious! That stuff he typed in, it was a code for these tube thingies! And the count-down was for when they'd close! When they close, the ground underneath probably opens up so they can slide down, and it's like some kind of secret passage through tunnels, and the tubes are the entrance!" You'd have to be a fool to not hear the excitement in my voice. "We have to follow them!"

She wasn't enthusiastic at the idea. "But I—"

"No buts!" I interrupted her. "Aelita's in serious danger here, and your little 'but' isn't the priority!"

My bossy attitude won her over, and we went to type the code in. Luckily, I got it right, and we took the ladder up, scared that the elevator could hide some trap or that we'd go on the wrong floor, unable to get to the coffins before the end of the count-down.

We got there in time, and went to a tube of our choosing. I could see she was afraid, and I had to do something before she bailed out on me.

"Don't worry, the police will get him, and thank us for the risks we took." I didn't want to say 'we're taking', because that would imply we were still at risk, and I couldn't afford for her to panic.

She nodded, relieved.

The doors closed before we could say anything else.

-x-x-x-

I know I'm asking a lot, but please, for my sake, send me a review~? They make me ever so happy, especially when people tell me what they think of my writing! Also, remember to propose a phobia (example: claustrophobia) as a chapter title, and give the chapter number. I name the chapters according to what the readers propose.


	11. 11

**Aelitalyoko99 is the one to thanks, once again, for the chapter! Also, she proposed a phobia, 'glassophobia' is how she wrote it. I have never heard of it, but during the holidays, when I have time, I'll check it out. Thanks for the idea!**

-x-x-x-

I am afraid... I was completely wrong. The strange yellow coffins I had basically forced Jean to go in with me? They weren't a way to get somewhere else. I realized that immediately.

A halo of light appeared on the inner walls of the thing, and started mounting up, like some sort of insane scanner. Strong winds came, and before I could discern exactly where _from_, I was forced to close my eyes, and felt my hair being blown upward.

A little pressure in-between my legs indicated that I was getting frightened to the point where I was nearly pissing myself, and I could only hope Jean might be faring better.

"Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God—" About summed up my little freak out session, and I let out a little shriek of surprise when everything suddenly brightened. Had my eyes not been closed, the image might have burnt my retina.

I bitterly regretted following William. I mean, my life had always been so boring, and seeing all those films with stuff happening all the time had made me act irrationally at the first signs of entertainment.

But this is real life.

You can't just decide to follow a kidnapper... calling the authorities is the first thing you do. Except, well, maybe it hadn't been a kidnapping. I mean, that girl with pink hair wasn't rich, so ransom was out. And really, if it was a grudge, he'd find more intelligent ways to get at her. And less drastic ones, too.

Would you believe me if I said that, next thing I knew, I was ten meters up in the air? Okaaay, I know it doesn't make much sense, but that's exactly what happened. I promise.

I was so surprised that I didn't even attempt to prevent myself for getting hurt with the fall. And seriously, I doubt I'd have managed to do something anyway. I'm not Catwoman, so I didn't land in a sexy crouch, showing off my curves in all the right ways like _Halle Berry_.

Instead, I landed on my rump in a manner that will never _ever _be qualified as graceful.

"Fuck!"

Indeed, I did not make a sound that shows I am in pain, like 'ouch', or 'ow'. Instead, I cursed. Trust me, you always feel much better afterward.

I rolled over, on my stomach, but that didn't help any. I had quite a large bust, and it did not appreciated being squished (nor when I crossed my arms over it, but that's a story for another day).

I groaned, pushing my upper body up from my face-down lying position.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" came two seconds later, just above me.

Gods of above... I had the misfortune of experiencing just how heavy Jean can be, because she appeared in the same spot up in the air as me, meaning fell down on _me _(notice how I whined out that part). She managed to land on all fours, but that didn't stop her abdomen to push my head back down, violently.

Let's just say... that I hit the dirt.

"OOMPF!"

Yeah, I find it hilarious too. Really, it was good fun and all, getting literally _**crushed.**_

"Oh my _GOD_! I am sooo sorry Megan, I didn't mean it!"

I felt her weight disappear a millisecond later. Strangely, she did not continue her long monologue, and that was enough for me to notice something was seriously wrong. In the time I had gotten to know her, there is one thing I was sure of: Jean only shuts up when something disturbs her greatly.

Suddenly fearing William might be in the vicinity, and maybe even armed, I scrambled up. As I did so, I fully took in our surroundings, and was shocked enough to fall back down of my butt, even though it still hurt a lot from my earlier fall.

Everything was... _odd._

I can't explain it fully to someone who isn't there to experience it, but somehow everything looked different, as if my perception of images, my sight, had changed, _upgraded_.

First, I noticed we were in a forest. I didn't look for more about where we were because I was too entranced with the tiny creature at my feet.

One didn't have to be a genius to figure out we were in another plane of reality entirely. Everything looked fuller, more alive and vibrant, and so many more colours could be perceived now... I was suddenly discovering something I had missed out on my entire life, without even knowing about it.

Now, back to the object of my attention. It looked like some brown, small fleshy skull with a camera lens where the nose should be, had it been human. The whole skull was mounted on short, shiny, stubby black legs, and it had some sort of drawing on its forehead. Like, a circle within a circle within a circle, with three little thick lines coming out of it. Or something along those lines.

I didn't exactly have time to think up an essay on the physical attributes of a midget alien, because right at that moment, it cocked its head to the side, regarding us curiously, before coming to a decision.

One that involved shooting laser beams at us.

"Hi-ahh!" What started out as a squeal turned into a shout as Jean and I took off running. Or at least, attempted to.

Predictably, I had not counted on the fact that I was no longer clad in my _Black Veil Brides_ tee-shirt, skinny jeans and trainers.

Turned out I was wearing platform boots, and since I had never worn any in my life, I had a very intimate moment with the ground, once again, as I tripped over my own feet.

I repeat, someone obviously hated me up there.

I'm not a naturally clumsy person. Sure, I'll fall now and then, but that's because I don't always pay attention to my surroundings. I'm a 'head in the clouds' kind of gal, you know?

Being in shock that my feet hadn't carried me away, the next beam got me in the arm, making me wince and electric sparks shoot out of where I had been hit. There wasn't any visible damage, but that didn't mean I couldn't feel anything.

In fact, being shot hurt like hell, and I hope you lot never get the dubious pleasure of experiencing it.

Jean back-pedalled toward me, and decided to get rid of the thing by giving it a mighty kick before it could fire another round of killer lights. Had I been in any other situation, I might've snorted at how she had decided to handle the situation.

Turned out we weren't in a forest, per say, but on a winding road that could have been a massive forest track. It was suspended in the air, and I preferred not to think about the fact that nothing was keeping it up.

The trees were everywhere, but a select few actually grew on the road. The rest seemed to have unnaturally long trunks, and it was impossible to see their base or where they grew from, because if you looked down from the track, you'd see they eventually disappeared.

When we went to look why the alien wasn't coming back for blood, that's what we saw. Poor Jean rediscovered a fear of heights she thought she had gotten rid of.

I wasn't really concentrating on the never-ending fall, but more on what I was wearing. The sexy faces of Andy Biersack and Ashley Purdy were no longer on my chest and stomach. Instead, I was wearing some sort of leather ensemble, with two guns sheathed to either of my sides.

Woah... backtrack. _Guns?_ I didn't even know how to use them! Since when was I in some sort of videogame, huh? Tell me that!

And worst of the worst were the two pastel purple strips of cloth that looked a bit like belts, crisscrossing in a way that forced the top I was wearing too close to my skin for me not to feel awkward.

I patted my hair, and discovered a long plaid clipped to my head. I liked my hair loose, damn it!

Stomping loudly on the ground, I hissed: "Whoever is responsible for this, I'll make them _pay_."

Jean seemed much happier with the change of clothes. Hers were bright yellow, and even though they were tight-fitting too, they covered every inch of spare skin underneath chin-level. Man was I jealous.

While she jumped around, trying to get a look at her outfit from every angle, I quietly commented all of this:

"I didn't know William was such a uniform fetishist. God, I hadn't known he was that weird... Pervert."

I took a look around. Suspiciously silent. Were there even insects here?

_This place is creepy as fuck._


	12. 12

**Thank Shadow Lawliet and Little Snuggle for this chapter! They're the ones that reviewed!**

**By the way, Shadow Lawliet, I sent you a message, but you didn't respond, so I'll post the answer here just in case:**

**Megan doesn't know anything about emo people (Is that how you call them? I don't know). She's just being stereotypical, like all the idiots that judge before knowing. The only stuff she knows, she knows it because she was told so by others, but that doesn't make it right. She just think emo's a weird kids with black clothes, that write dramatic poems, and have black hair in odd hairstyles.**

**I don't view emo people like that. This is a story, so don't think of anything written in here as how I view things. If you see something biased, or insulting to you, that's because that's how Megan sees it, or she doesn't know better.**

-x-x-x-

"Hey, look at this!"

Jean and I had been walking along the road for a short amount of time, exploring the place, before she discovered a thin, cylindrical metal device poking out of a sheath hidden under her clothes. And trust me, hiding anything under her outfit had seemed impossible until then.

I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Is that supposed to be the weapon you were saddled with? At least I got super cool guns—"

I didn't continue, because at that moment it somehow lengthened into a meter-long pole. Needless to say, I was left gaping. Jean was obviously happy, and nearly thinking loud enough for me to hear the '_in your face!'_ she was thinking.

My friend made the long pole turn like a wind-mill, faster and faster, a smirk on her lips. She stared at me, a clear challenge in her eyes.

"I used to take _Sojustsu_ classes. It's a little thing I love, but lately I haven't had the time for it anymore."

She threw her weapon up in the air, and caught it perfectly as it came down, pointing it straight at me. She was gripping it tightly, confidence oozing out of her in waves, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was really her.

Where was the Jean I knew? Perhaps she had a big obsession with pole-fighting, and it was enough for such a drastic change in her personality? Creeeeeepy.

"Think your 'super cool guns' can win against this?"

Okay, I'll admit that got to me. I've always seen Jean as a lesser being than myself (I am human after all, and we're naturally selfish and think highly of ourselves), and always thought myself better in many aspects. Stupid of me, I guess. I didn't know as well as I thought.

I took my twin guns out of their holsters, marvelling at how light they were, and decided I wouldn't try to do any cool little trick with them, since I had absolutely zero experience.

Shrugging at her offer, I took a step forward, pointing the gun in my left hand at the truck of one of the floating trees, my arm stick-straight. "Heh."

I pulled the trigger, and watched in satisfaction as a fluorescent blue bullet came whizzing out, tearing through the obstacle and through the next tree, lodging into a third one behind the two first.

Opening my arms as if to hug someone, I trust my chin up, eyes gleaming. "Let's dance, my dear."

Of course, something just had to interrupt my moment of coolitude.

"_Erm... excuse me_?"

I dropped my guns in shock, while Jean clamped her hands over her ears, nearly hitting herself with her pole at the same time.

"Ahhhh! I'm hearing voices! Aliens have taken over my mind!" she cried, running around in circles.

If I had been in an anime, I would have sweatdropped.

Instead, I whirled round, trying to pinpoint where the voice came from. Quite hard, I'll tell you.

"_Listen to me, please._" I think he sounded a bit desperate, and that made Jean pause.

The voice was male, and young, possibly a pre-teen or something close to that. I could swear I had already heard it from somewhere...

"_I don't know who you are_—"

"I'm Jean and this is Megan!" Seriously, was she bipolar or something? Barely two seconds ago had she thought her mind was being invaded by aliens! And who gave her the right to give out my name?

"—_but I need your help._"

I was still trying to find the source of the voice. No luck so far.

Kicking a random pebble, I inquired:

"You _are _aware that a young girl by the name of Aelita was kidnapped, right?"

There was a pause.

"_How do you..."_

I frowned. "We followed, 'cause we wanted to help. And now we are God knows where, unable to even do something."

O0O0

I grunted as my friend's hold tightened on me.

Turned out the voice we had been hearing belonged to this geeky nerd called Jeremy Belpois that also went to Kadic, and he and his friends had been on their way to save Aelita from William, but got majorly caught up with something beyond my God-given powers of human comprehension. What could possibly be more important than helping your friend, I didn't know.

Anyway, that left Jeremy alone, and seeing as he spotted us on his personal videogame, he went from surprised to grateful, because we'd be able to do the dirty work. Yes, I know. Obviously someone was taking drugs or was delusional. That would explain why I saw everything weirdly…

Using some obscure voodoo-magic (I didn't know where he was, but he surely had a straw doll of me in his hand and was torturing it with needles), he conjured this wicked technological contraption called an _overwing_, a method of transportation I had never had the displeasure of encountering before. The thing literally appeared out of thin air.

It looked like some sort of giant metal plate, with a silver mini-wall streaked in black in front to protect you from frontal attacks, and handle bars sprouting out of it, that you had to grasp really firmly if you wanted to pilot the thing properly.

So as I stood on the hovering plate, trying to not let Jean impede my already disastrous driving, I couldn't help but regret ever following that trice damned William Dunbar in the first place. I thought I'd gotten over my curiosity when it came to him, but that obviously wasn't the case.

Anybody would have been curious if they saw a classmate kidnapping someone from school.

The more I tried to convince myself, the less I believed it.

He was supposed to be nice. He saved me from falling to my death!

Jean had gone along with following him, but she wasn't exactly your everyday girl, was she? Melanie, who was more normal-oriented, had disapproved of tailing him, in favour of warning an adult.

Did that mean that I had brought this on myself?

"_You're getting closer. Aelita's just behind that enormous boulder. You have to make it there quick, 'cause I don't know how long she'll be able to hold off William and the Scyphozoa, but I know she won't be able to make it if you lot don't speed up. Saving her is more important than you realize._"

My right eye twitched in annoyance.

"What..." I drawled. "You mean that if we don't save her, evil will win and all that B.S.?" I try to keep my cussing at a minimum, so no saying _bullshit_ to a guy I barely knew. Perhaps he was one of those proper types that would be deathly offended if I did so? It _had_ happened before, after all.

When he didn't answer, I realized exactly the magnitude and importance of my 'rescue mission'.

"Ah hell, I got it right, didn't I?"

I didn't hear his answer, because at that moment I came in view of who we were looking for, and heard Aelita's cry of despair.


	13. 13

**LotsOfChocolateOnTop, Frost-Sparrow and rbvictor are the ones that reviewed, and thus this chapter is in their honour! I'm visiting my family in Denmark this week, so I probably won't be able to update much. However, the following week will be packed with chapters to make up for it!**

-x-x-x-

"AAAAAAHHH!"

The girl we had come for was backed up against a tree, near the edge of the clearing they were in, and very close to falling off. A floating and pulsating monster was waving its tentacles toward her, and William was a few meters away, a smirk on his lips.

I turned to my female friend, trying to ignore how devilishly sexy he looked in his 'combat' ensemble, and whispered furiously:

"Take care of pinky and make sure that creature doesn't get her while I give William a crash-course on proper kidnapping." And it was all said without me pausing to take a breath.

I didn't give her time to respond as I increased the vehicle's speed, glad that William and his pet were facing away from us.

So when the boy finally turned around, it was just in time to widen his eyes as I full on body-tackled him, having jumped off the floating device and left Jean to crash the _overwing_ into the floating jellyfish that was trying to get to Aelita.

I pointed on of my guns at his temple, while I was on all fours on top of him, him laying back to the ground.

"You move, you die." I whispered in what I hoped was a threatening voice. I hadn't done this kind of thing before, so I just took inspiration for my heroic speeches from various films I had seen in my life.

This one sounded like the kind of thing Batman would say in the film _The Dark Knight_, from the Nolan 'verse.

William, who had also turned all weird (he looked different, and his hair was shorter — a waste, if you ask me) from being in this strange world, seemed surprised as well as deeply irritated. But then he gazed past me, behind and on my right, and smirked.

"**It's too late, girl.**"

What the hell was wrong with his voice? It was all basso and 'I'm such a baddie you can tell by my voice' creepy. I even felt a slight shiver, which is generally hard to get from me.

I looked behind me, my gut twisting in worry, and loosening my grip on him a little. It had never even occurred to me that he might be lying. So when I saw Jean pushing Aelita to the side and bringing up her pole, ready to attack, I realized his scheme, but not in time to do anything.

Quick as lighting, he used his iron-hard abs (And _yes_, it was a coincidence that I felt them while immobilizing him!) to push his upper body upward, head butting me and sending me down. In no time at all, our positions were reversed. Except I had a cranium-splitting headache, and didn't have the energy to do much.

Running was my thing, not fighting against a boy with _experience_. No, not that kind, you pervert.

"**What were you saying?**" he inquired, bending his head down and giving me full few of the triumphant smirk on his face.

I gave a nervous grin in return, absentmindedly wondering how come my braid hadn't come undone in the fight.

"Ever considered switching sides?" Was it me, or did my voice sound increeeeedibly squeaky?

Eesh, what next? Me bowing in submission to him like a good little girlie?

He sneered.

"**No.**"

"...okay."

There was an awkward silence. I knew I had no chance in hell to escape him; he was holding me down firmly and in a much more efficient way than I had. It would be better if I simply played dead so he would underestimate my already meagre strength.

He was most likely one of those big-shot fighters, and that meant a lot of ego, and looking down on everyone else. I was uncomfortably aware just how much I was relying on my assumptions, but I didn't have any other solution.

So, I didn't attempt to fill the silence with false bouts of bravado.

William was staring at the other 'fight', still on-going. Jean wasn't using her great pole-dancing skills to fight the futuristic-looking jellyfish, but was just running around it in circles, landing hits when she could.

I turned my head 'round fully, to get a better look. William's grip on me tightened in a silent warning.

Aelita was hiding behind a tree, and I was ever so grateful my captor couldn't afford to let go of me to take care of her. Technically, he could slice me in half with his weapon, which a giant broad sword with a black hilt and dark tendrils snaking away from it, across the metal, but it was embedded in a tree from when the pink-haired girl had been pitted against him and his monster.

I could tell he was annoyed by it too, and I tried to make myself as small as possible so he wouldn't see my two guns, that he could very well turn against me. He hadn't seen them yet, thankfully, but I could feel that if the creature didn't get rid of Jean soon, William would let me go in favour of getting back his weapon.

Shit.

Aelita was trying to help my friend by firing what looked like pink energy spheres at the opponent, and I was amused to note that they matched her hair.

A weapon came whizzing through, very narrowly missing William, who pressed his face in the crook of my neck to escape having his head cut off. I narrowed my eyes at him, even though he couldn't see it, and pursed my lips. The nerve of that kid...

"Ishiyama!" I called, for once happy to see her.

Dressed as she was, I nearly hadn't recognized her.

She was clad in tight fitting combat clothes, and they were dark, giving a resemblance to shinobi. That look really suited her. Go Yumi, go!

She raised her hand to catch a metal fan, the one that had failed to kill William. Strange, how the thought of murder didn't affect me in the slightest. I was under the belief that all this would eventually go away, like a bad dream.

Jean, so entranced by Yumi and her dramatic entrance, stopped to stare. Unfortunately, it was all it took.

The Scyphozoa wrapped its sticky tentacles around her, lifting her up. More of them appeared and placed themselves by my friend's head, pointing at her forehead.

"Uuuuh," I gasped, watching as pulsations appeared on the ends of the ones pointing at her head, the lights going on and off as they raced back to the jellyfish.

William took it as his cue to punch me in the stomach hard enough to knock my breath out and to stop me from doing anything. He got off me and raised his arm.

His gigantic sword dislodged itself and came flying towards its owner. And to make things worse, two giant, flying green insects entered my line of vision, marked with the same picture all the bad guys supported this far, including the mini skull Jean and I had faced before.

Speaking of Jean...

"Ahhh..." I breathed, happy I wasn't asphyxiating anymore. "Jean! Fight that god-damned thing!"

But she couldn't. She had dropped her weapon when the monster had picked her up, and was currently gaping in a way that made me uneasy, especially because of the vacant expression on her face.

Aelita was trying to help, but those birdy insects were hounding her, and she was having difficulties staying alive. As for Yumi... well, let's say I sympathize, because she was pitted against William. I had been lucky enough not to go one-on-one with him while he was armed and prepped for the fight.

I took an unsteady step forward, immediately regretting it. I clamped a hand on my mouth and the other one, already holding my stomach, tightened. I had never in all my life been hit that hard, and it showed. I felt the urge to vomit.

I looked back at my friend, trying to figure this out. No answer was coming to me, and I was getting scared. I wasn't used to not being in control. I wasn't used to fighting.

I was scared of thinking.

So, doing the only thing that would help me feel better, I screamed out my worries and frustrations in one plead, directed at my red-haired classmate.

"JEAN!"


	14. 14

**Thanks to ThoughLove726 and Izlawake for their comments.**

**To Izlawake: I thank you for your kind words, but mostly I'm happy you found an error. Despite looking for mistakes, I can still miss some, and it is nice to have someone like you tell me of them so I can correct them. I dedicate this chapter to you and ThoughLove726.**

**I'm awfully sorry you didn't hear from me during the holidays, but here I am now. I hope you guys enjoy. :)**

-x-x-x-

Aelita was attempting to bring the giant flying insects down, while Yumi was going against William. Deciding to do something useful, I pulled out one of my guns and aimed for the floating jellyfish. Unlike the poor tree I had used to show-off on, this time I didn't get it spot on. My aim left me whenever I was stressed and under pressure.

"Damn it!" I snarled, lips curled back to show a sneer.

Using my wrist to push up my glasses, I set my feet firmly to the ground and fired several shots in quick succession, keeping a look out in case the cnidarian tried to get me too. After pressing the trigger ten to fifteen times, I got fed up with my lack of use in helping my friend, and tried to get her to wake:

"Jean, stop staring into space right now! Get your sorry arse away from that-that-that thing! And you, jellyfish! Let h-her go!"

Damn stuttering, it made my speech seem so... less imposing.

I couldn't really do anything about it, so I pretended I hadn't done such a horribly embarrassing thing when attempting to bully Jean around.

One of my shots then managed to cut off a tentacle, which was unfortunately not one of those holding on to my friend. Spirits considerably lifted by that small success, I tried once again...

...only to find out I had used all my bullets.

_Well, fuck that_, I thought, throwing my now useless weapon to the ground. I didn't exactly have munitions, nor did I have the time.

Taking a step forward, I was relieved to find that no-one was paying attention to me, all completely engrossed in their respective fight. So, I sprinted over to the transparent creature, intending to... What was I going to do? I couldn't tackle it like I did with William, it was much too big for that, and grabbing its tentacles to rip 'em off Jean and free her would take self-control I didn't have.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on the way you looked at it, I was spared from having to decide my next course of action when the Scyphozoa let go of her on its own.

Huh. Maybe my shouting had gotten to the thing's head and it had decided to obey? I thought over that for a second. Oh, who was I kidding?

Anyway, I ran even faster than my earlier sprint and skidded to a stop in front of her. She had landed in a crouch, her head bowed, and was holding her pole, which I could swear she had dropped just before getting caught by the giant monster.

"Jean?" I asked cautiously, wondering if I should do one of those stupid tests to see if she had head trauma, like asking how many fingers I was holding up.

I had seen it done tons of times on television, and was sure it was as easy as it looked like.

Worrying at her prolonged silence, I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but before I even came in contact with her, a blinding pain came to my shoulder.

"_What's happening?_" the nerd who gave us directions earlier asked.

Jean's eyes where flickering as she looked at me, expression blank. Her outstretched arm was holding her pole in a tight grip, from when she'd hit me. I watched, tears leaking from the pain, as her irises and pupils disappeared, before being replaced with the same sign I had seen on the brown walking cranium and the giant jellyfish, and finally on William's giant broadsword.

I didn't understand it all, but somehow she had switched sides, and I would bet it wasn't of her own volition.

It happened so fast I didn't even see it coming.

Jean brought her pole round at such a speed it blurred, and hit my already-abused stomach.

I lost consciousness.

O0O0

Giggling, Melanie dug out her cell phone from her pocket and showed me the image, picturing one William Dunbar soaked to the bone, looking like he had no idea why water had rained down on him when he had opened the door to his bedroom.

Even I couldn't resist laughing at his face.

"And I still can't believe I went along with you on this! If anyone learns we are behind that prank, we'll be soooo busted."

I simply gave her a dubious look.

"_Puh_-lease, we took every precaution against that. Paranoid much?"

We were sitting in my room (since Melanie didn't sleep at the school, and thus had no room of her own) and doing our homework. Of course, eventually we got bored and started talking about other subjects, such as the prank on William. Melanie didn't know why I had wanted to do it, but as my friend she had felt it was her duty to follow me on my mission. Of course, it wasn't like she knew he was in fact a bipolar kidnapper that took his victim to some cybernetic forest in order to brain-wash them using giant jellyfish.

Had I told her that, she just wouldn't have believed me. Instead, I stuck with the excuse of being tired of spying on him and feeling betrayed over Jean's bizarre character-change and how she suddenly began hanging out with more popular crowds.

Ever since I had come back from that strange world, everything had changed. I had awoken in the infirmary, because when Melanie had come to see why I wasn't in class, she had found me on my bed, with bruises and internal bleeding.

Explaining what had happened, and the whole William situation made the nurse worry over the fact that I might have a concussion. It didn't even cross her mind I might be saying the truth.

When I went to school the next day, things got worse. Jean had suffered a monumental character change, and was hanging out with the school bitches for reasons I couldn't understand. Whatever the jellyfish did to her had become permanent.

I couldn't believe I had forgotten I had a loaded gun left in the forest. I had thrown away the other one, and hadn't even remembered I had one left. Had I been holding it, perhaps I might have managed to defend myself in time. Instead, I fainted like a girly after taking a hit.

And the nerd who asked Jean and I to help Aelita, as well as the girl herself, Ulrich, Yumi and Odd, well they had been trying to approach me to 'explain'. Needless to say, I told them to go away and that I didn't want to see them.

Whenever a member of the little freak group came near Melanie and me, we simply snubbed them.

I deeply regretted St-Olivier's. Yes, the place was one big competition for the throne of the most popular, and anyone with less than perfect notes was badly regarded, but at least it was normal.

Kadic had seemed the perfect place at first, despite little annoyances here and there (but who was perfect anyway?). And then William kidnapped pinkie to 3 D land, I followed, and woke up the morning of the same day, several hours before the kidnapping happened, with Melanie looking at me weirdly when I spoke of things that apparently had not happened.

It confused the hell out of me.

For some time now, I had slowly been realizing that something was deeply wrong, and that the whole situation was slipping out of my control.

_Dear God. I know I probably don't deserve much attention when there are people out there living through worse things, but could you help me out here?_ I silently begged.

"Hel_lo_? Anybody home?" Melanie asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of my face.

"I'm afraid we're not home. Leave a message after the beep. _Beep_." I answered, trying to make my tone robot-like at the last word.

She snorted, letting herself fall down on my bed.

"What? Not enough energy to stay sitting on my comfy bed?" I teased.

With a groan, she turned away from me. "Leave me alone. I'm so tired..."

Her period had started last night, waking her rather rudely. So she had had to go to the bathroom to change her underwear and get out the hygienic products. Unfortunately, when she went back to bed, she didn't manage to fall asleep.

And now, she was as sleepy as a bear in the winter.

"Well someone's grumpy." I remarked, picking up some dark pink nail polish from the bed side table.

"Ya think?"

I opened the small bottle and started painting my thumb, squinting at what I was doing. Doing my nails was a soothing exercise, and would help me get rid of the stress of the day.

Melanie pushed her upper body up to see what I was doing, snorted at the familiar scene, and turned her head to look out of the window.

_Her hair is a total mess,I mused, maybe I should lend her a brush? It would be unfair of me to let her go out in such a state when she has to go back to her room._

Suddenly, her previously careless position changed as she straightened her back to stare out the window at the ground below.

"Did you see that?" she said, all traces of sleepiness gone in favour of incredulity.

"See what?" I asked, not very concerned with whatever she was talking about. My mind was focused on my nails.

Melanie yanked me up by my arm, and the nail polish spilled all over the wooden floor.

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly.

But what I saw shut me up real fast. Despite it being the evening, it was still light enough for me to recognize Aelita's unnatural pink hair. She was being carried bridal-style by the sport's teacher, Jim Morales, who was sporting a vacant expression I knew only too well.

_Oh no._


	15. 15

**Thank you Frost-Sparrow and Izlawake for your kind reviews!**

**Izlawake: You asked what I meant by 'cnidarian'. Since I love wikipedia, I have decided to use it to give you the correct answer:**

**"Cnidaria is a phylum containing over 10,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick."**

**So basically, Cnidaria is the family jellyfish belongs to, like a cat belongs to the feline family, or a dog to the canids.**

-x-x-x-

The scene was eerily reminiscent of the one I had witnessed with Jean and Melanie (although both of them could not recall it, or at least, Melanie couldn't), of Aelita Stone being kidnapped by William Dunbar.

The mere thought of William kidnapping someone had been difficult to swallow, seeing as he possessed a certain personality that didn't fit with that. But he had, and I had been stupid enough to follow him, accompanied by Jean.

As a result, I had lost the girl I called my best friend to a shallow one that sneered at me in the halls and hung out with the popular crowds. She wasn't truly Jean, of course, just a copy Jeremy had made, as he had done for William, but _still_. I had no proof of the events, the whole 'William kidnapping Aelita' thing, and it seemed Melanie nor William had any idea of what I was raving on about. Well, I hadn't exactly asked William, but I could tell from the way he acted the next day. Or the morning before the events?

Dang, this time displacement thing was confusing the hell out of me. But still - time travel meant that Melanie and William had forgotten all that had happened that faithful day.

"What the..." I whispered, in disbelief of what I was seeing. Couldn't the damn pink girl stay out of trouble?

"Is it me, or does that look mighty suspicious?"

"An abduction, who would've thought?" I responded, my voice a tad sarcastic but mostly monotonous.

"Megan, this is serious!" Melanie hissed, trying to keep her voice down despite her anger and alarm. "Jim could be a paedophile for all we know, and he's probably taken Aelita to do vile things to her!"

I sobered up. I hadn't actually thought of it that way. Maybe this was unrelated to the William incident? Or maybe... William and Jim Morales were both sexual predators out for young girls?

I shivered fearfully despite myself.

"We have to do something. Let's follow him." Melanie concluded.

My neck almost snapped, so fast I turned it. "No."

There was no way I wanted to lose another friend. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if Melanie turned out like Jean.

"What do you mean 'no'? We have to help that girl, and by the time we'll have told someone, he'll be long gone! This is the only way!"

I knew her stubbornness, so I decided to use the situation of the last kidnapping as my inspiration:

"But then the adults wouldn't be aware of it. Waht if something happened to us, and he take Aelita anyway? Listen, I'll follow him to see where he goes, and while I do that, you go tell a teacher and explain the situation. I'll call you when I find out where he's going, so you can report it."

That was basically paraphrasing what had happened the last time. Melanie looked like she wanted to be part of the action, too, but couldn't exactly say anything or she'd look like an egocentric person that didn't care for Aelita, only for adventure.

So she nodded and got up, still in her pyjamas, and ran out the room.

I didn't bother to put proper clothes on. The only shoes I saw were my sandals and roller-skates. Figuring the latter would help me catch up with my gym teacher, I put them on.

Out of my room I went, not even bothering to close the door after me. I had trouble going down the stairs, and in my haste bumped into quite a lot of things, insuring I'd have bruises tomorrow, I passed the boys' level, and came down to the main floor.

I literally flew out of the building, thankful I was so efficient at roller-skating.

Morales was nowhere to be seen, but I had a hunch about where he was going; the abandoned factory.

It was impossible for me to follow him down in the sewers, I realized, because with my skates I'd take ages the get down the ladder. So instead, I figured a new tactic was in order. I'd have to beat him to he factory by taking the longer, ordinary route.

So I went speeding out of school grounds, not caring about being seen, and entered the forest. Knowing how long it would take to get across it, into town and over the factory, I went faster than I was comfortable with, fast enough for me to doubt how much I controlled my speed. This was just asking for an accident, but all I could concentrate on was the situation.

In my mind, I saw two imagines overlapping each other. William, with the unconscious Aelita in his arms, and Morales, holding the exact same person.

I gritted my teeth as I performed a leap over a fallen tree trunk, stumbling and making a rather pitiful reception, but managing not to fall over. I was off again, and felt invigorated when I managed to distinguish the tell-tale lights of civilisation, of the town.

The big ornate doors that served as an entrance to the park/forest were open, thank God, so I didn't need to stop to open them myself.

I scared a random woman half to death by nearly running over her, and I could still hear her cursing as I rolled down the slope the road was forming. I didn't encounter any cars on my way, and I was happy about it because I doubted I would have managed to get out of the way in time.

I had often been in town with Jean and Melanie, during our days of stalking Dunbar, so I knew my way around pretty well. My lips formed a smirk when I saw the factory up ahead.

From where I was, my destination didn't seem that far, but it took three unending minutes to actually get there. I crossed the bridge that led to the presque-isle the factory was situated on, wincing at the noise I was making. The place was perfect for echoes, and I just hoped Mr. Morales wasn't there yet.

Entering the vast room, I looked around, breathless.

_What now?_

I realized, with a jolt, that I hadn't even taken my phone with me to contact Melanie, like I had promised to.

First things first, something to help me hold my ground. The place looked like it had been in construction at one point, but left to rot half-way through. I went in the direction of the part where there were a lot of multi-sized pipes, with steam coming out of some. I picked up the only one that was one the floor and useless; a rusted but sturdy-looking pipe that could help me defend myself if it came to it.

It was as long as my arm, and would be very painful to whoever would get it in their face.

I shook my badly-laced up roller-skates off, and camouflaged them behind some pipes that were constantly emitting steam, perfect as a hiding screen. I hid behind a pillar near the entrance, holding on tightly to my pipe, and waited, hoping it was all a mistake, that Morales was _not _abducting a student, and that he was not coming over here.

I'll admit that after thirty seconds of waiting, I was trying to restrain myself from bouncing up and down because I badly needed to pee. It was something that happened every time I hid somewhere. I always, for some unexplainable reason, needed to pee.

So I was so focused on bodily needs I missed Morales' entrance with Aelita.

_Shit,_ I thought, when I saw him ahead of me. He was heading for the lift, and I had to stop him before that.

Flitting over to him, I shadowed his form carefully, ready to strike. I brought the pipe up, and with a horizontal slash, _bashed in the head of my teacher_.

_**BAM!**_

-x-x-x-

_**Hey guys, do you think it likely that one day, I'll reach 100 reviews? It's my not-so-secret dream for this story.**_


	16. 16

**Sorry for the long wait. I had figured I'd have posted all the old chapters by now, the ones already written, but it seems I was wrong. Hope you guys enjoy! Thanks to Izlawake, Frost-Sparrow and LotsOfChocolateOnTop for reviewing! This chapter is for you guys.**

**-x-x-x-**

He went down like a sack of potatoes, letting go of his hostage out of sheer shock. She tumbled to the ground with a sound that spoke of a massive headache for her when she'd wake. Judging from to groan she let out, it seemed I had managed to rouse her.

I really hope she hadn't cracked her skull open. It wouldn't do for me being responsible for such damage when I was trying to save her.

Mister Morales was up again, snarling like a demented beast, his whole body somehow _flickering_ as if it was some kind on illusion, hologram or something. I know; impossible, right? But it distracted me from worrying over Aelita.

I took a step back, remembering my discussion with Melanie, about Jim Morales possibly being a paedophile out for Aelita's innocence. God, the idea itself was terrifying. What if that virtual forest I had ended up in with Jean was the result of some kind of hallucinogenic drug rapists used while doing… _vile_ stuff?!

My mind was going a mile an hour, exploring possibilities and reasons with astonishing speed.

Then, the conclusion came. The idea of a drug explained perfectly the weird forest, my guns, and the jelly-monster.

Just as Aelita was picking herself up, looking bleary and confused, I gripped my weapon tightly, holding it like a golf club after a stroke, high up and over the shoulder, and spoke:

"I'm gonna bash your head in, you motherfucking sexual predator! You won't be kidnapping lil' girls anymore!" It was more of a growl, coming out of my mouth.

And then I ran.

You know, head-on attacks are very difficult to get right because the opponent sees you coming easily. But I had stamina and extreme speed on my side, from all the running I did. So with all the strength I had in my feet, calves and thighs, I got to him in barely a second, jumping as if I was at handball practice trying to score, and brought the pipe swinging 'round so hard it literally broke on impact, bits of metal and rust spraying everywhere.

As you may have guessed, my teacher yelled as if the hounds of hell were after him, a deep guttural sound that further convinced me of the whole wrongness of the situation. At first I had feared getting reprimanded by a figure of authority, even though it was for doing what I believed was right. But this Morales didn't act like the goofy one I knew, that funny sports teacher people often made fun of. And I definitively knew that he couldn't produce such sounds.

"M-Megan?" I took a quick peek over to Aelita, who was blinking as if she couldn't quite process what was going on here. Did he drug here, like I feared?

"Don't worry gal, I'm here to take care of all this stuff," I announced, flashing a peace sign and a smile. Go hero!

Or heroine, or whatever it was.

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. "Look out!"

What?

I was flung across the room, colliding sharply with the door of the old run-down elevator in the middle of the factory. I may have made a dent, but I wasn't sure, and I must have busted my tongue, because it was bleeding. It took a second for the pain to hit, but when it did, I _screamedands_h_r_i_e_k_e_d _and_ y_e_l_l_e_dand_—

Hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt– hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – hurt – **hurt – **_**hurt – **__**HURT!**_

_**IT EFFING HUUUUUURT!**_

I was being extremely loud, and I could feel myself crying. I had a lot of pride, and the fact that I was actually shedding tears (I was **not** sobbing, not at all) in front of a potential rapist and a student I didn't know showed just how much it hurt. Had I been capable of thinking, I would have immediately deduced that my leg must be broken, or crushed, and that my ribs had been turned to mush.

That may be over-dramatic, but it hurt that much.

The pain was overwhelming, but I think I saw Aelita attacking Morales in a magnificent show of girl power.

Unfortunately, I wasn't like all those people in shows or books, and didn't find the strength to continue fighting. I was still screaming, and my throat was raw. I would stop making that much noise only if the pain left, or my vocal cords snapped. And that wasn't happening any time soon.

I had slid down to a sitting position by the accursed elevator, mouth open and head thrown back in primal pain. Pain. PAIN! **PAAAAIN!**

Well, you get the picture.

"I wanna go home…" I mumbled a few minutes later, when finally the pain became more manageable.

By then, Morales had managed to back my classmate into a corner, and it became obvious she had no chance of getting out of this intact.

"H-hey…" I winced when my voice broke. "HEY!"

There – That's it girl, show 'em your shouting can be used.

They both turned to me, distracted from their one-sided fight.

I smirked weakly, feeling blood dribbling out of the corner of my lips from when I had bit my tongue. "How about you take on someone your own size, bozo?" I spat, trying and failing to seem intimidating.

Aelita, bless her intelligence, was thoughtful enough to use the opportunity to strike a winner. With a good and solid punch, Morales was on the floor, dazed from all the hits he had taken from me and pinkie. With a shudder, he lay still. The surprising part was that some dark mist then came out of his body, floating up before disappearing (demon possession, maybe?). Lying still like that, he sure _looked_ dead.

"Did we kill 'im?" I croaked, mindful to stay audible to her, who was on the opposite side of the factory, near the steaming pipes.

Damn it, I wish I didn't have nerve endings so I wouldn't feel how injured I was. And to think I used to whine when I got scrapes

Just then, there came the sound of running feet. It confused me because neither of us was moving and our teacher wasn't moving, so I didn't understand why I heard that. And then…

The rescue team arrived, swinging on ropes like Tarzan on vines. Yumi, Odd, Ulrich and Jeremy, albeit the latter was a little slower at getting down.

"Princess!" Odd shouted, running towards us. "Are you alright?!"

I rolled my eyes. Figures it'd be when the action's over that they'd show up.

Aelita smiled shakily, and waved at them. "Hey guys… it's fine. Megan and I took care of it." She then hastened to explain. "XANA possessed Jim and tried to get me to Lyoko again…" Her eyes were downcast.

I wasn't paying much attention to what she said, too preoccupied with my leg. I was worried over what had happened to it, and silently vowing that next time, I'd be the one to get some adults, not Melanie.

"Wait, you mean Hawkins helped you?" Jeremy asked, pushing up his glasses while examining her for injuries.

Yumi came over to me, concern written all over her face. She crouched down and lay a hand on my leg, mouth open to give me reassurements.

"OW!" I shouted, feeling a spike of pain all along my thigh, backside and lower back. Of course, she couldn't have known just how much I was hurt, but I was still angry. "Watch it!"

The dark haired girl leaned back, her hand retreating. "I was just trying to help, no need to get stingy."

I glared angrily. "Well next time, don't."

Her mouth compressed in a fine line. "Fine!" she spat, moving over to the others.

I ignored the small twinge of guilt in me, and settled on brooding unhappily.

"—saw the activated tower, the teacher wouldn't let me leave the classroom and I was afraid something terrible would happen. I'm so relieved you're well and—" Jeremy was saying, emphasizing his speech with movements of his hands and arms. Aelita was listening to him politely, not bothering to interrupt. Was that a little happy smile on her face?

If it were me, I'd be jumping at the chance to tell someone all about the paedophile I had stopped. But Jeremy wasn't my friend, and he was so focused on his _girlfriend_ that the idea of me having a conversation with him without his attention straying was laughable.

Ulrich was checking the teacher's vitals with Odd next to him, the latter looking ready to send Morales back to the land of the unconscious ones if he were to show any aggression in the event of him waking. Mister Morales looked dead to me, and I found it highly unlikely he'd get up again. Huh. The idea that I helped murder my gym teacher should probably affect me more than this. Maybe I'm going into shock or something?

I tried to feel if there was anything different about me, but apart from the crippling pain of my injuries, I was fine an' dandy.

"—and I think, with such circumstances, that we should take the time to explain everything to Megan here." Jeremy turned to me, his friends following suit. "And she'll have to listen."

I stared, incredulous.

"Dude, my leg's broken and my back ain't much better, and you want to give me a speech?" The last part ended in a bit of a whine, because I had moved a little too much and my leg was scolding me for it with another dose of pain. A new batch of tears arrived, and I didn't bother trying to hide them. "Can't you just leave me _alone_?!"

Ulrich crossed his arms over his chest. "Look, Megan… We can't just let you ignore us. You have to know what's happening, or else you could get killed."

"Or worse," added Odd.

An image flashed through my mind. Me, bloodied and half-dying, trying to convince the principal that Jim Morales was a paedophile and I had beat him up for his own good, showing off his corpse like a trophy. Ew.

"Why should I listen to you? You guys took Jean from me and turned her into…" I racked my brain for something adequate. "… into someone else!"

"That was XANA. It's wasn't us," retorted Yumi, huffing at the insult.

There was only one thing I could say to that:

"Who the hell is XANA?"


	17. 17

**Izlawake: Thanks for reviewing. Also, I'll have to say that yes, Megan will probably join the Lyoko team, but it won't be official. It'll mostly be her helping them out from time to time, and pretending she doesn't care about them (though she totally does).**

-x-x-x-

My alarm blared loudly. I groaned, reaching out to grab my phone. My aim sucked this early in the morning, so I accidently pushed it off my small bedside table. My upper body came out of the cover of my duvet as I leaned out of the bed, pawing blindly at the floor.

Though it had made a clatter as it fell, my phone was made of tougher material than that; it was fine, and as loud as ever. When I finally caught hold of it, the crescendo of the alarm was at such a piercing volume, I was afraid of having woken up someone else in the dorms. But I had been doing this every morning without problems arising from my grumpy neighbours.

I was exhausted, and my mind wasn't faring to well either. My thoughts were processing at a rather slow rate and my eyelids were closing against my will.

Just one more minute…

A small part of me was fighting Morpheus, reminding me I had somewhere to be. My body ignored it. After a minute, I was asleep.

Sleep was like a drug for me. I was a naturally lazy person, and I'd never stay up late if I could help it. I loved resting more than anything else.

My dream was pleasant. I was chasing a giant brownie, and every time I caught up with it I would barely have the time to bite a chunk or two out of it before it escaped my grasp again. I wasn't worried, for the simple reason that I knew that eventually there wouldn't be anymore left of that brownie.

The piece of pastry looked so very good, with bits of melted chocolate tempting my hungry stomach with their sugary goodness.

"-gan!"

I snuggled deeper within my covers. Hmmm... brownies.

"-Megan!"

What was that irritating noise?! Blocking it out didn't work, so ignoring it it was.

"Go away..." I mumbled, eyes fluttering.

"Wake up, idiot!" a voice hissed.

Startled by the insult, I opened my eyes and found no brownie the size of a horse running from me, but the face of Odd Della Robia, in my room, his face much too close to my own. I reacted the only way I could.

"AHH-ck!" my scream was abruptly cut off by Odd's palm slapping over my mouth as a way of silencing me. He made a shushing gesture, seeming frantic, and looked over his shoulder towards the door of my room.

"Be quiet! If I'm caught here, I'll be punished for life!" He gave another suspicious glance at the door, as if someone would enter any minute.

I grabbed my phone and one look was all it took for excuses to come tumbling out of my mouth.

"I'm so sorry! I was just so tired, and I haven't slept enough because-"

"Save it for later. Right now, we have to get out of here!"

He then proceeded to yank me out of my bed.

"Hey, hey, HEY!"

"What's wrong now?" I had admit, that glare did not look good on his face. It was the first time I had seen him so annoyed.

"... I'm still wearing my pyjamas."

Well, that was awkward.

The next minutes were spent dressing myself in appropriate clothing and styling my hair in a way, I hoped, would make its greasy state less visible.

Leaving the dormitories wasn't hard - everyone was asleep. But Odd had an expression of worry painted over his face, jumping at the slightest of sounds. He relaxed only when we arrived outside.

The cold wind associated with mornings hit me, and I shivered. I was beginning to regret this already.

-x-x-x-

"Come on! My grandmother could do better!"

"Shut up," I mumbled. Despite wanting to, I didn't have the strength to yell at him. It was pathetic and yet true: my arms couldn't take more than fifteen push ups, and even then they trembled every time they were forced to carry my weight. The only relatively fit part of my body was my legs. Anything else was hopeless.

I had no reflexes when it came to sports requiring a ball, like handball, football, rugby, or basketball... I couldn't climb a rope to save my life, and didn't even possess the necessary flexibility to reach my toes without my knees bending.

My only talent was running, and Odd was starting to despair at the fact that I most likely wouldn't be able to contribute much to their team of 'warriors'. Having Jean become possessed was a major blow to them, and they had to take the risk of activating a 'tower' to create a clone of her to send to school to avoid suspicion, very well knowing it could easily be turned red by XANA.

I still couldn't get over the fact that the reason Jean had started hanging out with the popular bimbos was so... outlandish. I mean, really, clones? Jeremy, who had already gone through the crisis of XANA permanently controlling someone, had a program able to create a clone. The clone would then be sent to school so that no one would search for the real one. The problem was that MR. Genius couldn't reproduce the personality, and thus Jean had left me without a second glance. Or at least, her clone had.

It had turned Jean into a royal pain who no longer considered me a friend. No, her _clone_didn't consider me a friend, because the real one was under influence on Lyôko. GRAAAAHH! This was so confusing. But I hadn't known at the time, and now that I knew, I couldn't even tell Melanie. Technically there was nothing stopping me from informing her of the situation, except for one tiny little fact... I would sound like a loon.

And William... the William that had beaten me at running was a clone. Since he wasn't human, it explained that he had beaten me with such ease. The William that had kidnapped Aelita was the real one, the one under the influence of XANA, like poor Jean.

All these complications were seriously hurting my head...

"When will I be able to train on Lyôko?"

I remembered from my only trip there that gravity was quite different, and big leaps as well as impossible feats were much easier to manage. I could not wait to get back, so that my lack of any form of muscle whatsoever would be overlooked.

… it also helped that that would give me the opportunity of acquiring revenge against XANA for taking poor Jean away.

Odd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I already told you, Jeremy first has to get his stupid program running so you won't be a sitting duck!"

I asked him that same question every time we saw each other for training. It was more a habit than anything else now.

Speaking of training... now that I was somewhat part of their group, it was expected of me to be able to hold my own against whatever monsters were to be fought. Honestly? I was doomed.

So Odd, ever the gentleman, was kind enough to propose to serve as my personal trainer in an attempt to help me through all the - Oh, who am I kidding? Jeremy forced him to do so, and Odd had protested quite a lot.

But it was only logical. Apparently the blond was also a long range fighter, and the only one that shot projectiles instead of throwing them. Aelita, I had learnt, could actually create pink spheres of energy and either use them as protection or to throw them at the enemy. Yumi had fans with metal blades as her weapons, to be thrown like Frisbees. Ulrich had a sword to slash enemies with.

And Jeremy, seemingly, did not join his friends in the joys of the digital world, and served as the brains of the team, hidden behind his computer. To the extent of my knowledge, he had never been to Lyôko. He was the intelligence driving the soldiers that were his team.

So anyway, the big boss ordered dear Odd to assist me in becoming fit, and the latter could not go against logic. (_"I don't want to. Get someone else to do it!" "Odd, I don't care. This is more important than your personal desires." "Why does it have to be me?!"_) As you can guess, I was not particularly thrilled or flattered by his negative reaction.

The gymnasium was very big, with all the needed space in order to work. From time to time, he'd bring along his radio to play music, which I found helped me when I was running or doing some similar mindless exercise that did not require any thinking on my part.

"What time is it?" I grunted.

I hadn't found my watch after showering yesterday, and going to the administration to complain about the thievery of a belonging of such low value had seemed a bit over the top to me. But now, deprived of it, I felt utterly naked and had no way of knowing the time, something I had always heavily relied on.

"Do I look like your personal clock?" he asked from where he was sprawled out, an open comic in magazine in his hands.

_I do not like you. I do not like you at all._

I opened my mouth to send back a scathing insult, but he had already gone back to reading. Well, that is what I call a good trainer. Feel the sarcasm people. While I had been mean to him and his friends during the time following the creation of Jean's clone, sad and confused at her complete change of personality, it was no reason for him to be like that.

My arms bent down to attempt another push up, but they gave out before I could come back up. Ugh, so tired... Odd was behind me, and I didn't have the necessary energy to turn around to discover if he was happy or not that I had not reached the minimum of thirty push ups required. I had failed, once again.

Vaguely, I heard the blond boy shift behind me, and the rustle of paper as he set his magazine down. He turned the radio off.

Silence.

There was a sigh, and suddenly his arms had wound themselves around my waist, helping me to my feet. I stumbled, my body unsteady with fatigue.

"Take it easy." He seemed amused. "Seeing you on the floor is funny, but that doesn't mean you have to go back down when I'm helpin'." He gave a weak chuckle, probably feeling a bit awkward.

My pride allowed me to forget the cramps in my muscles and I managed to straighten up with a whispered "thanks" and a small smile, feeling guilty inside for having thought bad of him. The moment was interrupted by the ring of Odd's phone.

His expression was apologetic, and curiously, I saw a bit of regret in his eyes as he fished out the mobile phone from his trouser pocket.

"Hi Jeremy," he greeted, his stance changing from relaxed and carefree to the body language of a soldier, ready for orders. Obviously, this wasn't a social call. He listened for a few seconds, then caught me staring at him with a questioning gaze. In response to it, he mouthed one word:

XANA


	18. 18

**For those you read my update two days ago, read this, it's _VERY_ important:**

**Okay, you guys might have realized it already, but this chapter has already been read. That's because last chapter was 4000 words long, when I usually I only write them 1000 words long, so I can update faster. Since I don't want a story with short chapters, long ones, and then suddenly short ones again, I'm cutting the last chapter in three. This is the second part of chapter 17, the first part having replaced the too-long chapter 17.**

**Sorry if you thought it was an update. The true new chapters will probably come next week. I'm publishing this one now, and then the third part tomorrow. So don't go asking why this is weirdly familiar to you, since you read it two days ago. I'm sorry for the mistake I made.**

**Oh, and I'd like to thank the adorable Bali Lali for her comment, as well as ToughLove726, who made me all happy inside with his/her review.**

-x-x-x-

There were no questions. I swept up my normal clothes, the ones I had intended to wear to school (I wasn't going through classes in a jogging ensemble!), and dumped them in my sport's bag. I tidied everything up in sharp and efficient movements.

"You really think she's ready?" Odd was asking.

I didn't smile, or do anything that would give away my glee. If I did, I would be judged immature again and would have to wait several weeks before I would be given another chance.

"'Kay, we'll be there in a sec." A pause. "It was on! But we had the radio on, how was I supposed to hear you?! It wasn't my fault." Silence. Odd ran his hand through his hair. There was an exasperated look on his face. "Yeah, yeah... See ya!" He ended the call.

I bent down to retrieve the radio.

"Leave it! We don't have time for that."

"But..."

"We'll take a short-cut – it goes through the boiler room and leads to the sewers."

I remembered the sewers. Nasty, horrid, stinky... well, you get the idea. I didn't want to go back there. I just felt lucky there was no need to wade in the water, because that would have killed me. I had a rebuke ready this time. It wasn't as good as I would have wanted (never is anyway), but I didn't have time to think of a proper witty comeback right now.

"Do you have any idea of how unsanitary that place is? We'll get diseases and **die **before XANA even lifts a finger!"

"XANA doesn't have fingers, idiot!"

"It was an expression, you moron!" I shouted, losing my temper.

"Dumb-"

His retort was cut short, so very unfortunately, by the wooden doors of the gymnasium being broken open in an explosion of splinters. My heart started beating a mad dance of fear, as an enormous thing stalked in, with the most horrendous snarl on its face.

t's body was like that of a bear, with great big paws and sharp claws that seemed to have sole purpose of gutting and ripping. A long prehensile tail was trailing almost lazily behind. The head of the creature, mounted on that terrible body, was perhaps the worst feature it possessed, of an appearance more canine than anything else, with its long muzzle.

The gaping maw gave the impression that someone had tried to stuff as many razor sharp fangs as possible in it, and there was drool dripping down on the floor. And finally, its eyes were of a queer, milky white.

I caught my breath, feeling my heart stopping. On the massive animal's white fear, on the chest, was a black circular symbol. XANA's symbol.

"Shit," I cursed.

The beast growled warningly.

"Run," Odd hissed, white as a sheet.

And we ran.

**xxx**

"The beast is obviously blind. We have to take advantage of that fact. He depends on hearing and smell." I looked around with suspicion. Odd was sitting on a slightly lower and much thicker branch, leaning against the trunk of the fat tree we were perched on like human monkeys. It was pathetic, how that was the only hiding place we had thought about. "Hearing is okay as long as we stay silent. It's his nose we have to worry about."

My companion was still trying to catch his breath from all that running, so he didn't say much. He wasn't a runner like me, but I wouldn't say anything mean to him, since he was the one that had helped me climb the tree. The cogs in my brain were turning as I tried to find an escape route safe enough to attempt. Our hiding place wasn't what one would call impressive.

There was no doubt in my mind that the beast could easily bring the tree down to get to us once it found us.

Odd's phone ringed and jerked up in such surprise I nearly believed he'd lose his balance and fall. He didn't.

"Yeah?"

I made a shushing motion, fearing we'd be discovered.

"XANA sent some kinda... giant hunting dog after us. We're stuck in the park," he informed whoever was on the other end, his voice voice much quieter.

An idea was worming itself into my head. It wasn't perfect, but it was the only thing I could think of.

"We'll try, but don't expect miracles. I'm not Speedy Gonzalez." And then the conversation was over.

I didn't know what to say. Having never had a male friend before, I was a bit clueless on how to act around him.

He made the decision for me.

"That was Ulrich. He's just been devirtualized," - and I knew that when that happened, your organism couldn't go through being virtualized again. You had to wait several hours before it was okay to attempt, - "and he's going to act as bait so we can escape and go help the girls. They're alone on Lyôko, on a new kind Replika, and aren't doing so good."

I hesitated. "I may have a way of being sure this... bloodhound won't find us."


	19. 19

**Thanks to Frost-Sparrow and Izlawake.**

**Read my last AN to know what's going on with this chapter!**

-x-x-x-

There were no questions. I swept up my normal clothes, the ones I had intended to wear to school (I wasn't going through classes in a jogging ensemble!), and dumped them in my sport's bag. I tidied everything up in sharp and efficient movements.

"You really think she's ready?" Odd was asking.

I didn't smile, or do anything that would give away my glee. If I did, I would be judged immature again and would have to wait several weeks before I would be given another chance.

"'Kay, we'll be there in a sec." A pause. "It was on! But we had the radio on, how was I supposed to hear you?! It wasn't my fault." Silence. Odd ran his hand through his hair. There was an exasperated look on his face. "Yeah, yeah... See ya!" He ended the call.

I bent down to retrieve the radio.

"Leave it! We don't have time for that."

"But..."

"We'll take a short-cut – it goes through the boiler room and leads to the sewers."

I remembered the sewers. Nasty, horrid, stinky... well, you get the idea. I didn't want to go back there. I just felt lucky there was no need to wade in the water, because that would have killed me. I had a rebuke ready this time. It wasn't as good as I would have wanted (never is anyway), but I didn't have time to think of a proper witty comeback right now.

"Do you have any idea of how unsanitary that place is? We'll get diseases and **die **before XANA even lifts a finger!"

"XANA doesn't have fingers, idiot!"

"It was an expression, you moron!" I shouted, losing my temper.

"Dumb-"

His retort was cut short, so very unfortunately, by the wooden doors of the gymnasium being broken open in an explosion of splinters. My heart started beating a mad dance of fear, as an enormous thing stalked in, with the most horrendous snarl on its face.

t's body was like that of a bear, with great big paws and sharp claws that seemed to have sole purpose of gutting and ripping. A long prehensile tail was trailing almost lazily behind. The head of the creature, mounted on that terrible body, was perhaps the worst feature it possessed, of an appearance more canine than anything else, with its long muzzle.

The gaping maw gave the impression that someone had tried to stuff as many razor sharp fangs as possible in it, and there was drool dripping down on the floor. And finally, its eyes were of a queer, milky white.

I caught my breath, feeling my heart stopping. On the massive animal's white fear, on the chest, was a black circular symbol. XANA's symbol.

"Shit," I cursed.

The beast growled warningly.

"Run," Odd hissed, white as a sheet.

And we ran.

**xxx**

"The beast is obviously blind. We have to take advantage of that fact. He depends on hearing and smell." I looked around with suspicion. Odd was sitting on a slightly lower and much thicker branch, leaning against the trunk of the fat tree we were perched on like human monkeys. It was pathetic, how that was the only hiding place we had thought about. "Hearing is okay as long as we stay silent. It's his nose we have to worry about."

My companion was still trying to catch his breath from all that running, so he didn't say much. He wasn't a runner like me, but I wouldn't say anything mean to him, since he was the one that had helped me climb the tree. The cogs in my brain were turning as I tried to find an escape route safe enough to attempt. Our hiding place wasn't what one would call impressive.

There was no doubt in my mind that the beast could easily bring the tree down to get to us once it found us.

Odd's phone ringed and jerked up in such surprise I nearly believed he'd lose his balance and fall. He didn't.

"Yeah?"

I made a shushing motion, fearing we'd be discovered.

"XANA sent some kinda... giant hunting dog after us. We're stuck in the park," he informed

whoever was on the other end, his voice voice much quieter.

An idea was worming itself into my head. It wasn't perfect, but it was the only thing I could think of.

"We'll try, but don't expect miracles. I'm not Speedy Gonzalez." And then the conversation was over.

I didn't know what to say. Having never had a male friend before, I was a bit clueless on how to act around him.

He made the decision for me.

"That was Ulrich. He's just been devirtualized," - and I knew that when that happened, your organism couldn't go through being virtualized again. You had to wait several hours before it was okay to attempt, - "and he's going to act as bait so we can escape and go help the girls.

They're alone on Lyôko, on a new kind Replika, and aren't doing so good."

I hesitated. "I may have a way of being sure this... bloodhound won't find us."

"Really?"

"Our clothing. It smells like us, so we should disperse it around the confuse the-"

"Are you crazy?! I'm not gonna be running around naked! Are you some sort of pervert?"

"Idiot!" My hand met his cheek in a loud smack. "Would you rather get eaten?!"

He was rubbing his abusing cheek, wincing. "If only you managed to hit like that when we spar..." he muttered.

"What was that?" I asked, my tone threatening.

"Nothing, nothin'..." he gave a little nervous laugh. It was amusing to see that despite him being stronger than I was, he was still scared the moment I started getting moody.

"I'm not asking you to strip down naked. Just take your socks and jacket off. I'll do the same and we'll hide them in different places to confuse the bloodhound," - the creature wasn't really a bloodhound, as I insisted upon calling it, but I couldn't think of anything else, - "and with our scent everywhere we'll have more chances escaping." The whole thing was said quickly, because I didn't know how much time we had left before we were found.

"How do you know it doesn't have other ways of finding us?" Ah, so I wasn't the only one that had noticed how sketchy my plan seemed to be.

"It's blind. It'll track us either via his ears or his nose. So we shut up and split up, so this damn bloodhound will have to choose where to go. That'll ensure at least one of us makes it."

"But what about the one that gets caught?" asked Odd, unhappy with my being the one planning our course of action.

"No one gets caught if we run fast enough." That shut him up quick. "And we shouldn't go in a straight line, we have to-" I was interrupted by a heart-stopping, frightening howl, audible through all the forest. And from the sound of it, it was near.

"That doesn't sound good..." I squeaked, face white. All my determination had gone down the drain in two short seconds fact to such a stressful situation. I wasn't made to deal with this kind of shit.

There was another howl, closer this time.

I squeezed my eyes shut, leaning against the trunk of the tree, and faced reality. "We're all gonna diiiiiie..."

Odd's face did not mask his incredulity. "You are ridiculous." He shook his head. "Ulrich will take care of the thing, so come on!"

I heard the sound of a zipper. Opening my eyes, I saw that he had just dumped his jacket on the extremity of his branch, and was moving on to his top, peeling it off without an ounce of shame. And he had called be a pervert, acting like some damn prude?!

Odd raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what are you waiting for? A full-out striptease?"

Embarrassed, I turned to my shoes, and began undoing the laces, glad that I wasn't the kind of person to have a visible blush.

In the end, we had socks, jackets, my headband and his top. Odd took the socks and headband, and I the rest. Since I didn't know the forest well, I would be taking the direct route through the sewer opening by the park crossroads, and he would attempt to do join the factory through a passage by an old abandoned house named Hermitage (weird name). We then parted with a whispered "See you later", clothes in hand.

Being as skittish as I was at that moment, it was completely impossible to sneak up on me. At the slightest of sounds, I was whirling round, attempting to control my bladder while I searched frantically for an invisible foe.

I walked fast, staying out of open areas and keeping close to the trees. At one point, I saw Mrs. Hertz. First I thought she was under the influence of XANA, and out to get me. But then I realized she was only taking a walk, or possibly going over to Kadic, since classes would start soon. I did not want her to notice me and start asking probing questions.

Talking about classes…

Aelita had informed me that there were at least three XANA attacksper week, more often than not during school hours. Usually, the 'team' asked to go to the toilets or nurse or something equally dumb to escape classes.

That just wouldn't do.

I would not leave classes when other people were available to take care of whatever XANA issue had come up. I had actually thought of an idea that could perhaps work in every one's favour, if done right.

It was quite simple; we had to take shifts at being the ones sent to Lyôko to deal with problems when they came up. I said 'we', but I wasn't officially a member of their little 'clique'. As if I would want to. It's not like I risked my life for Aelita or anything. Twice, might I add.

The forest was creepy. It was still early, and except for Mrs. Hertz, I hadn't met anyone on my way to destination. I wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not.

The sun was just beginning to rise, and being under the cover of trees ensured I had a rather limited field of vision. I knew the clearing was close. By clearing, I mean the one with the entrance to the sewers, that would then take me to the abandoned factory. The very same entrance I had used that time chasing William, all that time ago.

There was a sudden noise.

Tensing, I whirled around, feeling a lump of fear settling in my throat, leaving me quite choked. But it was only a bird that had settled on a low branch. A sparrow. Nothing scary.

I calmed down. Seriously, I was acting ridiculous. I resumed my walk towards the clearing, at a slightly slower pace. Ughhh... carrying all these clothes was so...

Wait.

…

…

I looked down at the clothes in dawning horror. I hadn't gotten rid of them. If Ulrich didn't manage to stop the dog, then that meant it would have no trouble finding me, by following my trail. Like clockwork, all my fear came back, as if it had never gone, and I burst into the clearing, knowing that I most likely had little time to get the hell out of here.

But all the sport this morning, coupled with climbing the tree and this last burst of speed had me seriously out of breath. I was bent over, face in my knees, trying to control my breathing by convincing myself everything would go fine, when I heard it.

The birds were no longer chirping, and there wasn't the tell-tale sound of a forest bursting with life. I could barely hear the leaves of the trees rustling with the wind's passing, but that was all.

Slowly, I raised my eyes to meet those of a smirking William, sitting comfortably on the metal lid of the sewers' entrance, the enormous bloodhound just behind, saliva and _**blood **_dripping from its gaping, fanged maw.

_Oh shit,_ I thought. _I think I just peed myself._


	20. 20

**My little Izlawake is to thank for this chapter!**

**Oh, and I reached 6'000 hits! Well, technically 6'196, if you want the exact number.**

-x-x-x-

In life and death situations, people can get pretty desperate.

"_Fuuuuuuuuuck_," I swore, realizing just how problematic the situation was.

I couldn't run away, that was a fact. Mostly because it would be detrimental to me having to join the others at the factory, and also because I was extremely tired. My breathing pattern was irregular, if you could call what I was doing 'breathing'. It seemed more like gasping, to be honest.

Evidently, I'd be caught within the second if I tried to escape, and judging by the red liquid on the bloodhound that almost certainly belonged to someone I knew, I'd be swiftly devoured, too. So I did the only thing I could do, the only thing that made sense.

I charged them.

William and his pet were too surprised to react properly, which was what I'd been counting on. A meter away from the former, I used all those leg muscles I was so proud of to leap up, landing with one foot on his shoulder and with the other on his chest. Then, not bothering to be careful about not hurting him, I used the last of my momentum to jump from William to the beast in a beautiful somersault learnt from Odd.

Strangely, I would never have imagined how useful it would turn out for my person to take lessons from a pint-sized kid the same age as me.

Attempting to strangle it to death didn't work, I realized quickly. My puny little arms were already occupied with holding onto its neck for dear life, and the neck was simply too enormous for me to do anything but hang on as the dog tried to dislodge me in a new version of rodeo.

Any second I'd fall off and be murdered by one of these bozzos. In the middle of nowhere. With zero chances of rescue.

And that blood… was it Ulrich's? Odd's? Or did it belong to some other student of Kadic? Who knew, it could be Mrs. Hertz'. I had seen her moments ago, after all. An image of her, torn to shreds, came to mind. That would mean no more weekly tests, wouldn't it? But it's not like I'd live long enough to see it.

The dog was twisting around, trying to bite off my left leg. I managed to lift it just in time and the creature received a mouthful of his own fur. Or was it 'her own fur'? It would be stupid of me to assume it was a male. Wouldn't such a thing count as sexual discrimination against dogs or something? Hell, I didn't know if it was a dog or not some mutation of a bear and—

The bloodhound opened its mouth still full of fur, jerked up its head, and _bit down_ on the leg that had narrowly escaped its maw moments ago.

"GYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

I let go of the beast, the shock of the wound getting to me. There was a crunch as my femur gave, and the flesh of my thigh ripped open, and I was thrown to the ground. The bloodhound teeth masticated on what was left of my limb, turning it into a pulpy mess, and ignoring my screams.

I was still screeching, oblivious to anything else but the pain.

Thinking I already knew pain was a grave mistake on my part, because nothing could have prepared me for this entirely new and exclusive level of hurt.

If I had to find a way to explain it, I'd say it was the kind of injury that would make you scream even if it was in front of people that you didn't want to see you as weak, or people that would laugh, like the students at St-Olivier's. It was so painful you feel as if you have to scream, that it's the only way to feel better, but there just isn't the necessary air in your lungs, so you choke as you try to breathe.

I couldn't help the tears escaping my eyes. Technically, I shouldn't be ashamed of crying. I had every right to do so. I felt as if I were dying, and soon enough it wouldn't be just a feeling, but a reality. And to think, I hadn't even lived my life correctly! As a child, never had I done something truly daring that I'd fondly remember years later. Quite the teacher's pet, no one had wanted to be friends with me, and I hadn't been able to understand why at the time. My parents had always taught me to tell an adult when someone did something wrong, and I had been too blind to understand that my classmates wouldn't see such a thing favourably.

Sad as it was, the only interesting thing to ever happen to me was going to Lyôko, and meeting Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, Aelita and… Yumi, even though I didn't like Yumi that much. She seemed to abhor the idea of me joining the team in their fight against XANA, and had only been convinced when she realized they couldn't beat XANA on their own now that Jean was amongst the foes, and that they needed help.

Ultimately, I had to calm down and shut up, because I just couldn't keep shrieking forever. So I was left shuddering in pain, unable to see much because of my teary eyes. But I did notice that William was right next to me, crouching down to my level, head tilted to the side as if a freshly-amputated girl was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.

"You are going to die."

A second of incomprehension.

My eyebrows came together in confusion. I hadn't been able to understand much of what he said, too traumatized by my missing leg and too… well, in pain.

"W-wha?"

Ewww, I couldn't breathe anymore. And what was he saying again?

"You. Are. Going. To. Die," William enunciated clearly, looking faintly annoyed.

I was feeling a bit dizzy. The pain had mysteriously disappeared. Was I going into shock?

"Uh-huuuh…" Ohhhhh, blue butterflies!

Colours were blurring together as blood loss made itself known. I watched as the beautiful butterflies settled on William's face.

"Preeeettyyy…" I said, reaching out towards one of the cute insects, but missing as my hand went right through it.

"Excuse me?"

The surprise on his face was so cute! Kinda like daddy when I asked him what a prostitute was after hearing about it as a young child. He has spluttered and told me to ask mum.

William gripped my extended arm tightly and with his other hand, he turned his palm towards me, electricity sparkling out of it, his face a mask of cold determination.

Wa-wa-wa-wait! No! It isn't supposed to end like this!

Out of the corner of my eye, I say the white light associated with something I had only heard about, approaching from the distance. The return back in time thing! Odd had told me about it! I was saved! Hooray!

But the electricity in William's hand was coming closer, and any idiot could see I'd be dead before the white light arrived.

Panic gave me strength, and I managed to tear my arm from his grip, pulling his head towards me. In an attempt to keep himself from falling, he extinguished his lightning to use his hand to hold himself up, but it was too late. Our foreheads bumped.

Lips brushing.

The white light surrounded us.


	21. 21

**Thanks to Frost-Sparrow, Izlawake, BaliLali and TalGordin for their reviews!**

-x-x-x-

I woke up to the sound of my phone's alarm.

There was a grey ceiling that must've been white, once upon a time, with a poster of a celebrity taped on it. The walls were wooden, covered in family pictures and swimming awards with my name on them. A navy blue desk was opposite the bed I was lying in, with my schoolbag full of books on it as well as some last minute homework I had been working on until late at night.

It had worked.

When I finally understood I was back, I nearly wept in joy. Especially when I saw my two legs, hidden underneath the quilt. Time travel was useful like that. Had I really lost my leg, I probably would have cried all over again.

Clasping my hands together, I addressed a silent prayer to God, and thanked the wonders of technology, for giving back what had been taken from me. I stretched my arms out and switched off the alarm, knowing Odd would forgive me to skip a training session we technically already had and, a happy smile on my face, I got out of bed.

… Only to fall to the ground when my leg didn't respond to me. It simply fell limply to the ground, unable to support my weight or _even_ to move when my brain commanded it to do so.

My limb was back, but my brain still believed it to be missing. It was as good as dead.

-x-x-x-

"How do you know all this?" I asked, utterly amazed.

Aelita blushed, playing nervously with the keyboard. "I don't really know. It just comes naturally to me. I guess all that time on Lyôko had its uses…"

"It's really cool. I never knew making graphs was so easy! This report'll be done in no time."

I typed in the next sequence of numbers, feeling a victorious thrill shoot through me as, for the first time ever, I managed to do the report on my practical test in Physics correctly. I hoped that with Aelita's help, I'd manage to up my grade a little.

We were both in the library, using one of the outdated computers available for students. I had to finish a damn report and had resorted to Aelita's help, knowing that my teacher graded these things and that I could _not_ afford another bad mark. I knew she was good with technology, but this was pushing it. She was a freaking genius, no kidding here. She could probably invent her own software and get rich off it and never need to work a day in her life. And that was not an exaggeration.

And first I thought she was a bit weird, with the pink hair and the nerdy attitude (even though it wasn't as bad as Jeremy The Brainiac). But beneath that she had a great personality, and could get real witty sometimes. And she was really cute, like '_tiny – doll – that – people – love – to – collect'_ cute. She always gave me a strange urge to hug her with all my strength, a feeling I squashed down every time it decided to rear its head. We were friends (I think), but not close enough for hugs and squeals. I don't think she's the kind to squeal, but I'm not, so we might never get to that particular part of our friendship.

Aelita was different than the other, though, and that's what I liked about her. Having not experienced as much of Earth's culture as an average child her age, she had not learnt the prejudice that seemed to pop up wherever one goes. She truly saw people for who they were, and I really liked her for that.

Slightly thirsty, I started looking through my schoolbag for my water bottle (I always had it with me), but I couldn't find it. However, I did retrieve a few papers I thought I had forgotten in my room. Guess I hadn't searched thoroughly enough.

I looked up at the two tables we were using, and I realized the object I wanted was on the other one, amongst notes and drawings of the material used during the practical part of the Physics test. Unfortunately, that table was two or three meters away, and I couldn't reach it.

Stupidly, I tried to grab my crutches while still holding the papers from my bag, and the former ended with a clatter on the ground.

"Shit!"

Aelita turned to see what the matter was. "Are you okay?"

Ah, little pinkie, always thinking of others' well-being, bless her heart.

I placed the papers next to some info that we had printed earlier, about forces and Newton and gravity and stuff.

"Fine," I replied, bending down to take the irritating crutches before they decided to grow a pair of wings to escape me. I was starting to really hate this handicap situation. Being unable to walk was really irritating.

My friend, that had guessed what I had wanted in the first place, went to get me the water bottle, and I thanked her profusely. "You have no idea how annoying it is to walk with these things. Sure, at first it's fun, but soon enough you're tired of feeling so slow and you just want to be able to run again, _hell_, to _walk_ again."

"It must be though," she said, but she seemed rather distracted, as if she'd rather talk about something else.

So instead of launching into a dramatic retelling of how I lost my limb (minus the kissing part. I was delusional and hallucinating and not in control of my actions and it will never happen again. Nuh-uh, never), I decided to forego my ego being stroked by people sympathizing with my plight, and focused on Aelita.

"What's wrong? You look a bit… out of it. Is there anything…" I racked my brain for a correct way of saying this, knowing that if I didn't phrase it correctly she'd clam up and it would all be for naught. "Is there anything you'd like me to help with? You've been so great to me, showing me how the computer works and stuff, it's only fair I try to help you with whatever seems to be bothering you."

Oh, but what if I had misread the situation? Maybe there wasn't anything wrong, maybe she was just day-dreaming or something.

She scratched the side of her neck thoughtfully.

"Well, I kind of need some advice. I don't know how to say this, but…"


	22. 22

**Bali Lali, TalGordin and Frost-Sparrow are the ones to thank for this chapter! They reviewed, so I publish this chapter for them, because they're the ones who motivated me.**

**Can you believe it? 84 reviews! And to think, I might reach 100! (It's my secret dream to reach that number). Only 16 reviews before that happens!**

**PS: 6'800 hits!**

-x-x-x-

The door of Jeremy's room was half-open, and I could see him at his desk, typing away on his computer. Wow, and to think I used to believe I could type fast! I couldn't see him that well and since his back was facing me, I tapped softly four times on the door. After all, it would be rude of me to intrude without permission.

"Hey," I said.

All those things related to Lyôko must have _really_ affected me, because I was expecting him to turn around, with XANA's symbol in his eyes, and brutally attack me. Instead, he smiled awkwardly (still uncomfortable with me, I could see) and waved at me, despite the fact that I was only two or three meters away. What a dork.

Briskly, I entered his bedroom and closed the door after me. I was a little nervous, since girls weren't allowed in the boys' dormitory and since I did not want a teacher to see me.

"Sorry," Jeremy apologized when the silence became too long. Obviously realizing it was important, he closed several windows on his computer until there was only his background image left. It depicted him, with what I could only assume was his family.

Jeremy spinned his chair 'round and stopped when he came face-to-face with me once more, this time with no distractions.

I raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering. Normally it was a bit harder than that to separate him from his programs. They were always a matter of 'life and death', made to help in the battle against XANA. It was quite flattering that he had stopped all that for me.

"Anti-XANA stuff again?" I asked, so I didn't appear as too much of an ignorant fool.

"Ahh…" he turned his head towards his screen, as if it would give him all the answers. "Homework, actually."

Oh. Well now his attention didn't feel like that much of a compliment anymore.

"Aelita came to talk about what happened on Lyôko… you know, when I lost my leg."

The boy nodded slowly, appearing a bit uncomfortable with the subject. I couldn't blame him. According to Pinky, that had been the worst… attack? Intervention? Anyway, never had it been so horrible. I was the first to actually lose a limb. Despite going back in time, and thus regaining it, it was now nothing more than a slab of meat hanging off my hip.

I sighed.

"Listen Jeremy, I'll be blunt. This can't go on."

His face showed nothing but confusion. "I'm afraid I don't underst—"

"Yes, you do," I said harshly. I didn't want to be mean but I had to do something. "Do I really have to remind you? I lost a leg—"

"I know that," he responded, cutting me off. Now he appeared annoyed, but that wouldn't stop me from forcing him to confront the truth.

"Obviously, you don't. If you did, you wouldn't act like such an idiot."

An insult wasn't the best thing, but I knew he had a certain pride when it came to his intelligence and that he would try to prove my arguments invalid to show he wasn't a brainless zombie. And that's was exactly what I wanted; his whole attention on me as he tried to disprove whatever I would claim. An unconventional method of forcing someone to listen, sure but as long as it worked I'd use it.

"You guys could barely keep up with XANA before I came here, but now that Jean joined the bad ones it's even worse! You may have gained me on your side, but I'm _nothing_ compared to the Jean XANA managed to create with his evil possession. We don't have the same worth in battle and whatever the hell you all 'need' me for."

He must have understood just how much I undervalued myself, because his expression changed to compassion. Now he'd probably start spewing bullshit about how important I was to the team.

"Listen, Megan—"

What did I say? Here came the bullshit. Time to steer him back onto the subject.

"Aelita's scared, Jer! She thought she was about to die in that creepy new Territory, and it didn't exactly help her feel better when she saw Ulrich being de-virtualized barely a minute after arriving to help."

She had told me about how they discovered a Territory instead of a Replika, and that it looked like an urban centre, a city. Some of the details in the place were wrong, but finding yourself in a city with no one in it and fearing monsters were after you was enough to have anyone freaked out.

"But we _won_, like he always do." Was it me, or did he sound smug right there?

"But for how long will this… this winning streak continue?! And what about William and Jean? Did you win when they were caught by that jellyfish?!" I ignored him when he corrected me about the name of the monster. Seriously, it wasn't worth being called anything else than a jellyfish. "I lost a _freaking_ leg—"

"I know that! Can't you restrain yourself from saying that every single time I see you?!" he yelled, finally losing his temper. His arms crossed themselves over his upper-body. I couldn't remember how you called it for a man. 'Cause saying 'breasts' only worked for a woman, right? So what should I use for a man? Chest? No, that still somehow sounded wrong.

Anyway, crossed arms were body language for 'I feel threatened so I need to put a barrier between us'. Basically, his body was betraying him and telling me that I was the one in charge right now. I needed to use this to my advantage, before he started reversing our positions. I wasn't stupid enough to believe he wouldn't snap stuff back at me, and I needed to avoid him being able to think clearly enough to manipulate me into one of those 'I have everything under control' talks he always gave.

"But because of that, my father is saying that he wants to take me back out of this school."

That surprised him. Now that I thought about it, I had only told Pinky 'bout that. She probably hadn't had the time to blabber about it to her beloved Jeremy, and then dramatically cast herself in his arms, crying over my distress while Jer gently held her and—

Who was I kidding? I had watched way too many soap operas. What could I say? They were a guilty pleasure of mine, despite always trying to appear tough and macho. And even if Aelita and Jer were obviously in _love_, or more like crushing over each other, I couldn't see them confessing anytime soon. That just wasn't their style.

Feeling the need to sit down, I limped over to his bed, leaving ma crutches behind, and sat down. The bed was made so well it looked _ironed_, and was just as tidy as the rest of the room. I was jealous, considering my own room had a ground littered with papers and clothes, and I never took the time to do my bed properly. It was basically mission impossible to find the ground in my bedroom. It was strange, how much of a neat freak he was compared to me.

"A student died, eaten by the bloodhound. Even if the body came back intact when we went back in time, Andrea Sherling suffered the same thing as I. But it was worse, and she died because she came back brain-dead. And curiously, I lost the use of my leg at the same time someone dies, proving just how well Kadic takes care of the students. Dad doesn't want me here anymore. He wants me back at my old school, St-Olivier's, next year."

Silence. I would never forget the look of intense stupefaction on his face.

"But next year… Yumi will be…"

I nodded. Yumi was a third year. This was her last year at Kadic. With both of us gone, Jeremy would have a serious problem.

Appearing devastated, Jeremy held his head in his hands, his face hidden from view. He could be crying and I wouldn't know unless I heard a sob or saw his shoulders shake or something. But since gys don't cry as easily as us girls, I figured he was just a little sad.

"S'okay. I mean, she can always come visit, right? And she could help out on weekends or something."

His body just seemed to sag at that comment. His fingers half opened, allowing me to take a peak at his face; it was all deformed by anxious and unhappy wrinkles, with a good number of those creases on his forehead. Poor guy, this situation was making him old with all the stress it involved. I felt slightly guilty now.

"You don't understand… the problem isn't Yumi."

"It isn't?" So the problem was me? He was sad just because I was leaving?

"It's William." Oh, I love you too, Jer! One second you're all nice, and the next I'm thrown away like a dirty sock!

In my mind, I saw a sock with green fumes coming out, and I scrunched up my face. Ew. Maybe I shouldn't compare myself to such a piece of clothing.

"He's in his last year too. To be more accurate, his clone is. If he graduates, then we will no longer be able to keep an eye on him. If XANA were to gain control of the tower I activated to create the clone, then none of us will manage to do damage control, because we would not be there."

I still couldn't see the problem.

"The. you just activate the Lyôko Code with Aelita as fast as possible, and then you go back in time."

Jeremy just stared at me. I could sense a 'just how stupid are you?' somewhere in his thoughts. "As you said, when someone dies, we cannot bring them back by time travelling. If the clone manages to kill someone, we'll be in big trouble."

Ah, I understood. Even if we went back in time and brought back a dead person, the authorities wouldn't know what to make of it. But that didn't mean we couldn't avoid unnecessary deaths.

"How much time do we have left?" I asked, feeling full of dread.

Jeremy sat up with a sigh. "Until the end of the year. William's dad knows something is wrong and once he sees his son for an extended period of time, we'll be officially screwed. The clone will probably be sent to a psychiatrist and there will be an investigation here at Kadic to know what happened and why no one saw something wrong with William."

"So we pretty much have no chance of escaping this."

Jeremy quirked an eyebrow at me. "What were you expecting? You confronted me about the problem you saw, and you wanted answers from me. Well, here they are: I knew all that already, but I know the only way to solve this is to destroy XANA in time. So, technically, we've not lost yet. We have until the end of the school year."

I frowned.

"But… that's in a few weeks."

"Exactly."


	23. 23

**Thanks to Izlawake, TalGordin, IssyWerewolf and Not a bad guess for their reviews.  
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**As you all know, I've been re/writing this story, and now, I've officially finished doing so. So I no longer have pre-written chapters, and from now on you should expect updates every two weeks if I'm really fast. Most likely, it'll be once every month, considering how busy I will be.**

**-x-x-x-**

Jeremy and I were in the cafeteria, with the rest of those in the know about Lyôko in front of us. Or, if you'd prefer, we were facing Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Odd.

After two days of Jeremy running himself ragged trying to find ways to bring William and Jean back before the faulty copies were discovered by their respective parents, I had decided to put my foot down. We hadn't found anything. So we needed help. It was time to inform the others of the problematic situation.

"So there it is. We only have a few weeks before the parents will arrive to bring their children home, and our polymorphic clones are discovered," Jeremy said, poking at his meat with his fork.

Ulrich looked grave, and Yumi was frowning. Aelita's expression was one of devastation; she clearly hadn't thought of the negative implications of the summer holidays. Odd, however, appeared half-asleep. Jeremy's explanation had been a little too technical for the poor boy.

"What should we do?" asked Ulrich, pursing his lips. The movement caught my attention, cutting off my train of thought.

Odd chose that moment to reenter the conversation.

"Huh?" Quite eloquent, was Odd.

Since the others appeared annoyed at his inability to listen, I took it upon myself to explain it to him in simple terms.

"Jean and William's parents are going to pick up their kids at the end of the school year, for the holidays. Problem is, they won't be fooled by the copies. They know their kids better than the people here at Kadic, who can't seem to see the difference between the original ones and the clones. So we need a solution, or else we're screwed 'cause we'll be discovered."

Unlike Jeremy's scientific ramblings, Odd understood my brief summary. I could see in the way he straightened, and in the way his eyes lost their glassy-eyed state, that his brain was working again.

"Don't ya have some kind of super program to correct their personalities, Einstein? It should buy us enough time to kick XANA's butt!"

His idea was surprisingly sound and intelligent. With all the fooling around he did every day, I sometimes forgot how insightful he could be when he wanted.

Jeremy shook his head. "No. Changing them would be incredibly time-consuming, and however hard I try, they'll never be perfect copies. Sorry, but it's impossible for me to do."

"And," Aelita began. Everyone's attention turned to her, and she blushed. Her natural charisma was shining through. It often made people want to listen to her, speak to her or help her. She didn't seem aware of the effect she had on people, but I had noticed it early on, especially with how protective of her everyone could be.

I knew that, as the only one capable of entering the Lyôko code in a red tower, Aelita had to be protected at all costs, and she was the most valuable member of the team. But the young girl was so nice, so innocent and pure, that the job of guarding her had become more than a necessity, it had become something everyone did with a surprising amount of zeal.

"And," Aelita repeated. "If by some miracle we managed it, the clones would still lack the childhood memories that the original ones have. They wouldn't recognize their 'parents', or their 'homes'. The only thing we can do is bring the real William and the real Jean back."

Ulrich didn't seem impressed with the plan. "That's what we've been trying ever since XANA took them! The situation hasn't changed, the only thing that's different, is that we have a deadline now."

"We've been trying to bring back William for months," added Odd, finishing the last of his lasagna. "Face it, guys, we need a plan B."

And when there was no plan B, what could you possibly say to that?

-x-X-x-

We left Pinkie and Jer in the cafeteria to discuss the problem. I had left with Aelita looking quite unhappy to have been kept out of the loop, however she had reigned herself in and had begun speaking to him without problems. Pffft, perfect couple. Loved each other so much, they didn't even fight. Now, if only they could confess to each other, we'd be free of their shared longing looks.

With Odd, Ulrich and Yumi, I went to the rec room. Some students were already there, all playing a game together. They were sitting on the floor, forming a circle, with a bottle placed in the middle. Amongst them, I spotted a few familiar faces, one of which was Sissi.

As soon as she saw me, she brightened. Strange. I thought she despised me. Why did it look like the very sight of me was the best thing to have ever happened to her?

"Ulrich!" she cried, rising to meet him.

Ah. The mystery was now resolved.

The after-mentioned boy, who was directly behind me, simply scoffed, not bothering to respond.

"Want to join us? We're playing 'Spin the bottle'!" She finally realized the guy she idolized hadn't come alone. "You guys can come too, I guess."

Well gee, thanks. It seemed she had finally understood that being mean to her crush's friends had never done her any favours.

It wasn't like her ploy was going to work anyways. Her invitation was reluctant enough for me to know I wasn't wanted, and I doubted Odd and Yumi were oblivious to the fact that that applied to them too.

I was about to walk towards the Ping-Pong table, ignoring the group on the floor, when Ulrich sat down with a resigned sigh, Odd following suit.

Yumi and I remained standing, unwilling to join, but not wanting to be left behind, either.

I didn't wait long before sitting down too. Yumi hesitated a second longer, before settling down also, and I believed it was because she refused to leave Ulrich with Sissi. Who knows what that annoying girl could do.

Nobody in the circle moved to give me space, so I was left outside of it. At least I wasn't the only one; Yumi was clearly being exiled too. I could name certain people I recognized from class, but most were complete strangers to me.

Sissi repeated the rules of the game for our benefit, assuring Ulrich that they had barely started. What, was she trying to say something along the lines of 'Don't worry Ulrich, I haven't kissed anyone yet. I'm all yours…'? Ridiculous.

Speaking of kisses… I was sitting behin Odd, and the guy next to him, a boy called Raphael that I knew because we had occasionally worked together in biology. What if the bottle pointed at me? I had never kissed anyone, not properly, and on purpose. The kisses received from family did not count. Was I alright with kissing my first boy in a game? Well, it wasn't like anyone had ever expressed any interest in me. So this opportunity would probably never happen to me again.

"So you spin the bootle, and kiss whoever it points at when it stops! You need to kiss at least for ten seconds, and you have to use your tongue. Everyone okay with that, or are there any chickens among us?" Sissi's tone practically cowed everyone into submission, lest they face her wrath.

When no one left, the girl smiled an insincere smile. "Good. Now, I believe it was Philippe's turn, right?"

Philippe, a shorty with black hair, cute nose, and brown eyes, spun the bottle gently. It landed on Marie Larequi, an acquaintance of mine who was reasonable popular, mostly 'cause she bought food for people, too naïve to realize she was being used. I suspected her of being a compulsive liar. Every time someone talked about something they had done, she had to refocus the attention on her by saying she did it better. She also loved playing victim.

The boy advances eagerly, and Marie hesitated, eyeing him warily, before giving in.

It was amusing to watch how Philippe pursed his lips too much, and how Marie's expression appeared comically constipated. Sissi timed them, and we all counted down the last seconds out loud. Funny fact; William, who was amongst the players, looked adorably confused, as if he couldn't quite understand the point of kissing.

When it was Marie's turn, she used more strength than necessary to spin the bottle, perhaps because she was nervous, and was forced to do it again, more gently this time.

The plastic bottle, with _Vittel_ written on it, stopped between Sarah and Odd. Upon closer inspection, it was directed at Odd.

Marie, if possible, seemed to have even less desire to kiss Odd than the last boy. However, the blonde haired punk seemed perfectly at ease with the prospect of making out with a pretty girl He most certainly did not regret his decision in joining the game.

A few seconds passed, during which the long haired girl didn't move. Exasperated, Sissi pushed the girl forwards with a growled "Go on!" as she set her timer.

Odd had to be the man of the situation and initiate. Marie didn't fight him, but she wasn't making any effort either.

I yawned discreetly, trying to appear interested. This game was just two people engaging in mouth to mouth contact.

I watched, bored, as Marie pulled away hurriedly. Odd lazily approached the bottle, and spun it.

Closing my eyes, I let myself sag down sleepily. However, it was at that moment that the bottle stopped, and everyone gasped.

Odd cursed loudly.

Curious, my attention came back to the game, unaware of what had made everyone react like that. What I saw made my eyes widen, and my jaw drop down.

Woah.

I-

-just-

-could-

-not-

-effing-

-believe-

-it.

The bottle, it was…

… it was pointing at Ulrich.


	24. 24

Thanks to **IssyWerewolf**, **Bali Lali**, **TheCrazyVideoGamingAuthoress**, **TalGordin**, **Overrunner**, and an unnamed guest. I am so sorry for only updating now. To be honest, I was busy with exams, then spent a month in China, then a month preparing to retake a Math exam, and then school started again. I've mostly been focusing on my Harry Potter fic which has been becoming more popular lately, and consequently this fic has been kinda ignored. Also, I've started a Riddick fic that had distracted me from updating Autophobia.

There is a slight time-jump here, because so much time has passed since my last update that I need to make the plot advance. There will be a flashback in another future chapter to explain how the game of spin the bottle went, but right now I'm trying to advance. This story is halfway done and I _really_ want to advance the plot.

Thank **Overrunner** for this chapter! He/she is the one that motivated me with an enormous wave of reviews.

**-x-x-x-x-**

A few days had passed, and it wasn't looking good.

To sum up the situation, one could say that we were pretty much fated to lose. The summer vacations were approaching and with them came the parents of students, who would come to bring their children home for the holidays. That meant trouble, because William's parents, when they'd see their child, would find a badly made copy who could barely think properly, instead of the William they'd raised. Jean's copy was okay - it could simply be explained as a girl who'd had a drastic personality change. But William? Even if his parents didn't know it wasn't really him, they'd notice something was off, immediately.

Well, William's parents would certainly sue the school, believing that Kadic was somehow responsible for turning their child into a retard. Not only would the school then be Under intense scrutiny (making it harder for me, Jeremy and his gang to perform our usual XANA-fighting duties without being discovered and outed, as well as the supercalculator being locked away in a government facility), but William's parents would take William (as in, the copy made by Jeremy, but not the real William, who was possessed and on Lyôko) and send him elsewhere, or just take him out of reach. They'd never consent to bringing him back to Kadic after that.

That meant that he'd be too far away, and if the tower used to make him was turned red by XANA, we'd be unable to stop the copy of William from becoming possessed and doing something drastic. Also, if we ever managed to save the real William, how would we manage to get him back to his family and switch him with his copy, if the copy and the parents were far away?

There were numerous other problems that would come with the summer vacations, but those were some of the most pressing ones.

What seemed to worry Jeremy the most was the thought that, if someone dug deep enough while investigating on what had caused William's mentality level to drop, the factory would certainly be discovered, as well as all that it entailed. Frankly, the time travel software alone was dangerous enough in someone else's hands, and nevermind about all the other powerful tools in the factory that could be taken away. We wouldn't be able to stop the government from deciding to keep everything from themselves, and possibly accidently do something that could mean XANA's victory.

Luckily, Jeremy had a plan.

"Are you kidding?!" asked Yumi, nearly spitting the words out. "We've been trying to get William back for months, and it's gotten harder ever since Jean joined them! We can't keep up, and we certainly can't magically save William and Jean any faster just 'cause we've got a deadline, now! I'm sorry, but..."

The way she trailed off was eloquent enough. I agreed with what she had said, but that didn't change the fact that we had no choice. We needed to save William and Jean, or at least William, who was the most pressing one because his clone would fail to look normal when his parents saw it, unlike Jean's clone who'd just look like a nice girl that had become a complete, sadistic bimbo. A drastic personnality change could still seem normal. A boy suddenly becoming brain-challenged? That would raise too many eyebrows.

When it came down to it, that was it: William had to be saved, one way or another, before the summer vacations. Jeremy had already tried making a second clone, but creating an artificial human was hard, and the second clone hadn't been good enough to be sent out. So, making another clone wasn't possible, and we didn't have the time needed.

"That," said Aelita, making me focus back on the conversation, "would've been correct until last night."

I looked at the girl, suddenly feeling absurdly hopeful. Near me, Odd snapped his head up, reminding me of a dog standing at attention.

"You mean..." asked Ulrich cautiously. He wasn't about the begin hoping for victory before the means were confirmed to be there.

"Yes," said Jeremy. "We've got a way to bring them back. And we're going to do it. Tonight."

You'd think he'd just announced we'd all become milionaires.

Odd jumped up from the wooden bench with a whoop, causing a nearby student to make a loud shushing noise. Yeah, we weren't the only ones in the park. There were a few other people walking about; some had notebooks, so they were certainly in the park to draw something for an art assignment.

Aelita was smiling broadly, and Jeremy had just pushed up his glasses in a way that I'd come to understand meant that he felt proud.

Jeremy, Odd and I were seated on a bench. Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita were in front of us, standing. Since there was only one bench, we hadn't all managed to sit. Technically we could squeeze one more person in on the bench, but nobody had seemed bothered so I hadn't said anything.

"That's... great," I said, barely believing it.

I'd thought we were screwed, and yet, they'd managed to find a way to solve this before the deadline.

Ulrich was struggling to find the right words. "How?" he asked, his tone more demanding than anything else. "We've been trying for so long. How come you only manage it now, when suddenly we have a limited amount of time? What stopped you from doing this earlier?"

"Well," said Jeremy. "There's still a catch. We didn't find a way to bring them back directly."

"Instead, we decided to find a way to save them indirectly," said Aelita. "We've designed a software to create a weapon that could disrupt XANA's hold on whatever creature it possesses. However, it can only be used once."

"Why?" I asked. "That doesn't make any sense. This isn't a videogame. Can't you just make the sofware capable of being used more than once? Or, hell, just create a second software, like the first! Then we'd have several hits."

Jeremy shook his head. "That's not the problem. We could make this weapon fire as many times as possible if we wanted to. The problem is XANA. As soon as we use the software, it'll be visible, and she'll create a counter for it. Such a program is way too powerful, and she'll find a way around it within seconds because she'll be completely concentrated on it. No. We only have one shot that'll work. I can't guarantee that the next ones will be of any use."

There was a silence as we all digested this. This weapon was powerful, but if we missed, we'd be in trouble.

"So..." began Odd. "Who will we use it on? We only have one go, and there's two people we want to save."

I looked at him incredulously, and then felt annoyed when I saw the others begin thinking about that seriously.

"Are you dumb? Of course we save William! If his parents see the clone Jeremy made, they'll see something wrong immediately and sue the school for making their kid brain-dead. Jean's copy will just look like the girl totally changed, but she still seems okay intellectually.

The way they looked at me was enough for me to realize...

"Seriously? You haven't thought about this? William's clone is the most noticeable. If it's a choice between Jean and William, William is more important."

"Megan." The way Ulrich said it, the way he hesitated... "I thought Jean was your friend? How could you say that?"

I would admit I'd been crushing on the guy for a while, but seriously? Were these guys blind? My esteem for Ulrich went down a notch.

"When it comes down to it, William's clone is the most noticeable. We have to take care of him first. Jean... it pains me to say this..." No it didn't. I was just acting this way because these people were too emotionally focused, and I needed to find a way to convince them that my way was better. "... but, Jean can wait. William is the biggest problem, and the one we have to take care of first."

And that was that.


End file.
